Malaysia - the Journey there

So I finish up at work at about... 6pm on Tuesday head out with Sean and Mel for some 만두(mandu) and some fried chicken with beer cos i felt like hanging out instead of going home.. seeing as I'd finished my packing already.

Finally head home and finish up the last bits of my packing and rather than sleping i decide to head over to the 찜질방 for some hot water soaking and a long massage as well as a nice long body scrub and massage .... hour long massage.... daaaammn...

So unfortunately the massage wasn't quite as good as the previous time so i didn't sleep as much as i just dozed in and out meaning that i was actually quite tired afterwards.... so i remedied this by eating :P 냉면 (cold noodles) for my breakfast before heading off home to grab my bags and to the Airport limousine bus with my faithful sidekick in to

As is my uual self when I'm alone I pretty much triple checked everything every like 5 minutes and made wsure of where i had to be and when so I got on the plane with no drama whatsoever, plane left early in fact... half empty flight too..


So i land in Hong Kong around... 11 something just before 12. and this time for some reason i got through the security check with no problems at all took me less that .. 10 minutes to get back to the gate area.

Which is when i went hunting for some Chinese food :):):):)... the first place i went to ran out of duck.... which honestly almost made me cry seeing as I'd been looking forward to it so much it wasn't even funny. so i opted for a Beef Rib noodles with REAL 'lai mien' (noble cousin of Ramen and Ramyun) in a Bak Khut teh soup... it was pretty good ... the 'set' came with a drink... and a dish of........... chicken's feet.

Now for those that know me... they also know that I don't do chicken feet.
and again for those that know me, they ALSO know that i'm REALLY not big into wasting food...

So... i puckered up and ate the damn things.... and i gotta say... the texture reminds me pretty much of pig skin, and the sauce tastes pretty good :)

So anyway... feeling only somewhat satisfied after that mean seeing as i can get both in Korea. I was pretty desperate for a certain flavour so i went hunting and vame across sexactly what i wanted :)
Egg noodles with Roast Goose :) o.. m..g literally sighed with relief (and i'm currently drooling thinking about it)


It was EXACTLY what i wanted :) in fact i like it so much... i was SERIOUSLY tempted to order another serving.... but resisted.... for... i don't know why now come to think of it :S

Still had some time to kill so i figured i'd just log in to the Airport's wireless and say hi to everyone :P from my lil 'airport office' on the "ground" floor :P hahahaha


Afterwards, i board the full flight over to Malaysia with no troubles at all.

Though there was this lil Msian aunty next to me and i had to keep heling her with stuff cos she couldn't figure out some thing with the plane's amenities.
So i arrive and get picked up, and shuffled off to dinner and thence to my home for the next 11 days.


I get up this morning at around 2 pm and look outside... and as expected... it wants to raining -.-
less that 24 hrs in this country and it's already fulfilling my memories of this place :) hahahaha

Lucky I'm Yours :)

Just some videos i thought were very cute :)
jjinja kyopta

Lucky, this is not the official MV obviously but still VERY cute




Then this is the official MV for "i'm Yours" he's changed some of the lyrics but the general sound remains pretty good :)



and some covers 'lucky' from youtube which i felt were good versions :)

Stolen from Shawn's blog :P

As it says in the name this was taken from Shim's blog :P cos i'm bored and i slept in this morning and i'm not tired yet :P

100 Skills Every Man Should Know: 2008's Ultimate DIY List
Brains and charm are fine, but a real guy needs to know how to do real stuff. After months of debate among PM’s expert editors, here’s our lineup of essential skills for the competent man.

Listed below are skills that are deemed essential for the new age competent man. I would say yes to the ones I am competent and no to the ones I am not competent; and then, I would rate myself out of a 100. Let’s go!

Automotive
1. Handle a blowout (yes)
2. Drive in snow (in an area in snow... IN snow like i need chains? no.. half point? :P)
3. Check trouble codes (nfi)
4. Replace fan belt (helped do it in a shop...)
5. Wax a car (yes)
6. Conquer an off-road obstacle (like what... a yeti?)
7. Use a stick welder (no)
8. Hitch up a trailer (yes but i had help of course)
9. Jump-start a car (yes)

Emergencies
10. Perform the Heimlich (no)
11. Reverse hypothermia (no)
12. Perform hands-only CPR (no)
13. Escape a sinking car (no... but i figure if it was dad's car that was sinking.... and i'm the reason for it... i would probably just go down with the car rather than see dad's face :P)

Home
14. Carve a turkey (turkey....no.. i'll just say yes cos i can do a chicken... kinda)
15. Use a sewing machine (yes )
16. Put out a fire (yes... me and some other fun loving fellas just peed on it :P)
17. Home-brew beer (no)
18. Remove bloodstains from fabric (yes )
19. Move heavy stuff (yes... me ;) )
20. Grow food (no)
21. Read an electric meter ( no)
22. Shovel the right way (yes )
23. Solder wire (yes.. i think.. i'll just say half point here.)
24. Tape drywall (no)
25. Split firewood (i think i have... :S man my memory sucks... sure i must've done it at some point)
26. Replace a faucet washer (yes)
27. Mix concrete (yes, or stuff similar to concrete...)
28. Paint a straight line (yeah i guess i could)
29. Use a French knife (um i'm not sure what a french knife is.... but i can handle most knives..)
30. Prune bushes and small trees (yes)
31. Iron a shirt (hell yeah i can, thanks 5 years of cadets :P)
32. Fix a toilet tank flapper (dunno what a flapper is but i have fixed toilets before...)
33. Change a single-pole switch (single pole being on off? then yes :P my lightswitch in korea broke :S)
34. Fell a tree (YES! :P and omg .. it took forever.. right Ben?:P)
35. Replace a broken windowpane (no... but does it count to break one? :P)
36. Set up a ladder, safely (yes... safely? as in... it's not going to fall down or as in... "no i didn't just put it through the window")
37. Fix a faucet cartridge (what's a cartridge?)
38. Sweat copper tubing (no .. i didn't realise metal could sweat... )
39. Change a diaper (not)
40. Grill with charcoal (yeah man ! )
41. Sew a button on a shirt (yup)
42. Fold a flag (haven't done it before but yeah i could i suppose?)

Medical
43. Treat frostbite (no)
44. Treat a burn (yes)
45. Help a seizure victim (no but i know how)
46. Treat a snakebite (yes, and to Shim.. you're not really supposed to suck the venom out..... unless you're like desperate...)
47. Remove a tick (yes)

Military Know-How
48. Shine shoes (yes)
49. Make a drum-tight bed (yes )
50. Drop and give the perfect pushup (yes)

Outdoors
51. Run rapids in a canoe (no)
52. Hang food in the wild (no)
53. Skipper a boat (no)
54. Shoot straight (this is most likely the best skill i have in this whole damn list i reckon :P)
55. Tackle steep drops on a mountain bike (haven't before...)
56. Escape a rip current (no but i know how... but i don't wanna be stuck in that situation :P)

Survival
57. Build a fire in the wilderness (yes)
58. Build a shelter (yes)
59. Find potable water (yes, for Phil: that trick does work... but you need LOTS of bags)

Surviving Extremes
60. Floods (no)
61. Tornados (no)
62. Cold (no)
63. Heat (yes ... it's Australia... think about it...)
64. Lightning (yes )

Teach Your Kids (i reckon i could teach... )
65. Cast a line (yes - fishing line?)
66. Lend a hand (yes)
67. Change a tire (yes)
68. Throw a spiral (yes)
69. Fly a stunt kite (yes)
70. Drive a stick shift (no... least not until i learn anyway :P)
71. Parallel park (yes)
72. Tie a bowline (nope)
73. Tie a necktie (yes)
74. Whittle (yes)
75. Ride a bike (yes)

Technology
76. Install a graphics card (yes... read the instructions?)
77. Take the perfect portrait (yes)
78. Calibrate HDTV settings (yes... i'm pretty sure i could wing my way through it...)
79. Shoot a home movie (yes)
80. Ditch your hard drive (yes)

Master These Key Workshop Tools
81. Drill driver (yes)
82. Grease gun (no)
83. Coolant hydrometer (no)
84. Socket wrench (yes)
85. Test light (yes)
86. Brick trowel (yes)
87. Framing hammer (yes)
88. Wood chisel (yes)
89. Spade bit (no)
90. Circular saw (yes)
91. Sledge hammer (yes)
92. Hacksaw (yes)
93. Torque wrench (no)
94. Air wrench (yes)
95. Infrared thermometer (no)
96. Sand blaster (no)
97. Crosscut saw (yes)
98. Hand plane (yes)
99. Multimeter (yes)
100. Feeler gauges (no )

65 out of 100... but a couple are like "in theory" so i guess the score probably drops a couple of points.....

Freezing weather, the korean waiter and the aftermath

So i'm gonna go through the more light-hearted things first.


Lil while back (being.. the most recent Sunday) i found myself at a wedding between a Korean guy and a Kiwi lass. The whole style of weddings i must admit is not to my taste.
The typical schedule is that the ceremony will last somewhere between 15 minutes to an hour at most (the Sunday one lasted for an hour... the western part of it dragged it on but it was good) so while the important pair get pictures and everything, the guest went to a buffet hall.. which was much much bigger than needed...... because the guests from the previous weddings were still eating there.. so the whole dining experience had more of a mess hall feel rather than any sort of reverance. It was a fun thing to experience but i must admit that i would never choose to be married in Korea but i don't think that's going to be a real concern for me thankfully

SO.. on teh way back from the wedding still all dressed up in my finest :) Nic decided she wanted to go for a couple of drinks so we went to a place called 'Warawara" over in Gangnam. I was walking to the toilet after taking off my coat when 4 Koreans walked through the door....


then they looked at me and said... "4 person table please" in Korean.... i ignored them and the all just stared at me and repeated what they said.... -.- til i spoke to the in English "sorry mate i
don't work

So it's gotten to the point that not only do i look like a local.. apparently i look like i work in a Korean joint as well -.-



********** the Aftermath*************

As a result of the email i sent, the CEO expressed a serious amount of concern regarding the situation. He responded to the email by assigning an old worker of his to the school to field and file complaints by all parties at the school, report them to the CEO and resolve them if possible.
So this Irish fella, previously a worker at the camps is now the ... pretty much mediator between us at the frontliners and the management. I no longer count our vice principal as part of the 'bad guys' I feel that she is being screwed as badly as the rest of us, except that she has to put on a much better face about the whole situation, for which I, .... sympathise. I now feel that the principal has enough idiocy between his ears for the rest of the school. Pretty much that he stated to Dave that he couldn't give a stuf about the teachers as long as the school continues to prosper. Now anybody.. if not everybody out that is thinking "... without the teachers.. there can be no school...." but i dunno what 'the almighty' is thinking.
*shrugs*

So anyway last Thursday we had our first meeting with the mediator where he basically went over all the points in the email which were heard for the first time by a couple of the staff members. Basically none of the points could really be fixed... for the most part they asked for our patience as none could really be fixed in the near future. The main change is that he will act as mediator between our bitching and the principal's idiocy, which was confirmed by said mediator in his first meeting with the P.

So that's the news baically up to this point :)

Of farewells, reunions and more farewells..... and to drastic measures

So .. seeing as it's been like ... a month almost since i last posted... there's naturally a fair bit that's been happening.

1/Joanna quitting Jes Island
2/Email to Jay
3/Gabe comes to Korea
4/Meetings and the coming of Dave.....



1/

So Joanna our much beloved head teacher, decided to quit after a heated exchange with our vice-principal...... we were all exceptionally sad that this wonderful person would no longer be working with us, protecting us and caring for us...

So we had to send her off nicely :) with a coupla beers :P


then a couple more.....



then a couple more after that.... :P



27 bottles in total were... imbibed :P

and this was only on the friday before she left :P
but then we didn't drink much during the dinner the following (her last) friday at the school
here's some pics..




There's not much to say really except that Joanna will be (and is) sorely missed from the school :(






more pics here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=83304&l=d3222&id=728985900

2/

So after... probably WAAAY too long... i finally got the nerve together to compile a complete list of things that i felt contributed to Jes Island being an unstisfactory workplace.... i'd spent the preceeding couple of days asking colleagues at work what they didn't like.... the email ended up being abotu 2 and a half pages long..... and it ellicited a short.. but promising reply, that he would look into the problems and try and solve them......

more about this in part 4




3/

So Gabriel Lai.... my friend from high school and my best friend in year 8 came to Korea to visit a friend from Uni, but we end up hanging out anyway. I must say, it would seem that the intervening years made no difference whatsoever and damn.. did we party hard.... almost every single day basically. (i also want to say thank you here, to a certain person for her patience during this period.... and before that.... and after ......)









it was... intense to say the least :P

but i wanted to thank him for the time he spent here, as well as blame him for the lack of sleep I've had this past week and a half. But mostly i wanted to be thankful for being able to renew such an old friendship with him. So much has changed, yet so much has remained the same.....

Thank you for your words

*** for more pictures go to Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=83305&l=fbe7e&id=728985900
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=83307&l=9a032&id=728985900


5/

So, as a result of the email i sent it turns out that the CEO did do something... quite a big something.....
D had been working with the main company for several years now and the CEO had been wanting to get him back to Korea for quite some time and D was on the way to Korea for a different job when the CEO sent him a copy of the giant email i wrote and told him that if he was cool with it, his new job would be to 'fix' the place until the ELTs were happy with working there.
So I've now been assigned as the spokesperson for the elementary teachers and Dan, my twin in the kindergarten department... has been assigned spokesperson for his section....

Dan's meeting is tomorrow and mine is Thursday night....
so we'll see how things go....

Ramen and Honkies

So I froze my butt off today on the way to work.. my hoodie is about as wind proof as mesh...

So i resolved to go and buy the jacket from Zara that i espied on Sunday... quite nice overall (*ahem* not as good as the one that i sent off -.-") but still nice enough, but i didn't want to buy it till i had a second opinion... so i left it on the rack.

TODAY however i SERIOUSLY regretted making that decision... I decided to put on mypolar fleece vest undersneath my hoodie.. so at least my bod was warm.... though i couldn't feel my arms after a while....

So i decided to go to buy i tonight... Sean (the new ELT from USA) was going to Myong dong and Jin was floating about that area so went to that Zara instead (the one i went to on Sunday was in Samseong.... not that that means anything to anybody...) unfrotunately they didn't have it... so really it was a wasted trip... i did buy a shirt however....
ANYWAY

So i head over to the "KENZO RAMEN" place down the road and sat down to enjoy my noodley goodness when i overhead the couple talking next to me.... I wasn't paying attention but curiosity got te better of me and as it turns out, they were speaking cantonese! (should be noted that in Korea, I've noticed that for the most part, people who work/live/study here are generally mainlanders, people who come here to shop tend to be honkies) So, when i realised i gave the girl a very sharp look (which probably wasn't very polite.... and unortunately she noticed as well... but then Chinese people here in general get weird looks when they speak)
So .. i listened in for some time and finally worked up the courage to say "You guys are from HK?"

*sudden looks of surprise..... mental images of draw dropping* and from there a conversation ensues throught the predictable avenues of conversation
what you doing
how long you here
where you from
*small talk bs*

i have to say... esp in Canto.. i've never been overly confident.... it's kinda funny but i think i usually get the jump on people mainly cos i don't look like i can speak.... which i think automatically lowers their mental standards. Anyway, i felt really proud of myself for coming out and actually having the guts to start a conversation, not even in English... but in canto... big moment for me :)
so after a fair bit of talking, they comment that my canto is really good....*blushes* but i know quite well my deficiencies in that language though it was nice of them to say.
Even funnier is when the owner turned to me and started speaking in.......


no... not canto (pfft) Korean... just flat out started yapping away happily like i actually understood what he said... though in fact... i found that i did surprisingly.... just asked where we're from and what language we were talking...
It was definitely a kudos moment for me cos i'm talking away (albeit nervously) in canto and then switch over to Korean pretty seamlessly :)

BIG BIG grin and pat on the back for myself :P hahahaha

peace y'all

AAANNNDD cos the clock's ticked over...


HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! you old bastard :P
better get in the damn kitchen and cook me a storm when i get my ass back to Austrlia!! :)
love you dad :)

Vegie Soup

So.. as a prelude to this I'd like to post up pics of my usual Tofu Gung soup which I'd made... Monday night.

Following ingredients:

Soup stock (this was made usuing the leftover pork bone from my Birthday Dinner while parents were here and the crab shell from the one that my landlady gave me last time imade the seafood version of this soup) ie... pork and crab soup stock ... REALLY good very aromatic.
Wun yee (black fungus thing)
Chicken shreds (from the box of fried chicken i bought the previous night and REALLY couldn't finish so i reheated it in the oven... ate all the re-crunchied skin of course ;) *YUM*
Dried shitake mushrooms (this time i put LOTS and LOTS of them in... kinda to make up for other things lacking)
Ham (this time i cut them a lot more thinly and fried them... much nicer thinner)
Tofu (of course)
and this time i decided to put some lil prawns in.. no other seafood



I took some to work for Jin and Joanna, Joanna took it home but Jin shared her box around the office..... it was a HUUUUGE hit

Understandably I was pretty big-headed about it and it really surprised me how many people actually tried it.... the box wasn't THAT big... i did fill it up but apparently Jin had it... as did Herena, Ashley, Amy, Linda and Stephanie maybe others..... so i got quite a few compliments for that :) hehehe quite pleased with myself i must say :P kekekekekeke

so anyway... onto the Vegie Soup

alright.... so strictly speaking it's not entirely a vegie soup... there are pork bones in it, cos last time i made the soup it was damn sweet (most likely due to the 3 large carrots)

Ingredients:
Pork soup bones,
7 tomatoes
1 medium 1 small onion
2 zuchinni
Half a small bulb of celery (smallest at the supermarket.. but still a LOT of celery)
Lots of mushrooms.... (like... 15?)


Alright so first of all i put the pork bones (which were frozen after i bought them fresh on ... Monday) into some boiling water to cook out the blood.
After that i put the (now seriously boiled) bones into a big pot of water (i didn't wait for it to boil first just checked them in)
While the bones were boiling away happily I quartered and skinned the tomatoes (last time i made the soup the skins pissed me off after a while)

Next i roughly cut up the onions (wanted them to be chunky)

Then i quartered the mushrooms (more chunks!)
and cut up the celery

The last thing i cut up was the zuchinni, because i thought i'd put them in last.... seeing as i figured that if i boiled them too long they'd just fall apart (which they did.. but only a lil bit)


The tomatoes were the first thing i added into the bubbling pot of pork bones cos i needed to boil them into oblivion.



next in were the mushrooms followed by the celery and onions after it reboiled.
Last was the zuchinni...



plenty of salt and pepper... and because i felt like it.. i also added some oregano in there as well.... mixed in quite well actually.... but we'll see how my workmates judge the soup tomorrow.... and now seeing as i know they're the sharing sort.. i just gave them one big tub instead. :P

the finished product.