Gwoemul
October 27, 2009
I saw an interesting Korean movie recently and I thought I’d recommend it. The Host, or Gwoemul in Korean, was a very thought-provoking monster film released in 2006. I remember watching the trailers here in Japan and all it showed was the monster running amongst a crowd of people apparently kicking their asses.
Having watched the movie now, I’ve found it’s filled with a lot of insight into the Korean culture and society. It’s interesting to see the American military and probably Americans in general portrayed as uncaring, cold people. It’s obvious the resentment towards the Americans in this movie.
There seems to be a lot of social commentary on people too. The main characters all had some sort of character flaw that held them back. From being a lazy dumbass, to hesitant athlete, to ever-complaining activist, each character had to get over themselves through the film.
The monster was quite interesting. Compared to other monster flicks, such as ones in Japan and America, this monster seemed like it was more acting on instinct than any real intention to hurt people. It was designed well and the scene where we see the monster running up behind the daughter Hyun-seo was quite cool.
There’s a very wild blend of comedy, drama, action, and horror in this movie. At times I thought this movie was going the road of a parody but only to have something serious happen. The ending was quite unexpected – it did not follow the general formula for these kinds of movies. Because of this, I was pleasantly surprised. Different is always good.
BBQ and Training
October 22, 2009
Zach has posted pictures from our bbq and training last month at Sifu Steve’s house. There’s a fantastic picture of Sanjay staring at me in a very intimidating way. I’m going to be careful of him from now on.
I hate banks in Japan
October 17, 2009
I’m going to have to gripe about this. Friday afternoon, a few weeks ago. I finished my recording gig and have several chores to do before an evening lesson. One of these things is exchange some yen for dollars for my upcoming trip to Vancouver.
I go to the Resona in the Yodobashi Camera building. It’s in a huge hub of the city and… nope, they no longer do foreign exchange. OK, I thought, maybe this bank just sucks.
I go do some other chores and on the way home I head to the nearest UFJ near my house. I’ve exchanged currency there many times. Guess what, they no longer do foreign exchange. The woman said that I’d have to go to the Hankyu UFJ branch in Umeda. I just came from that area.
Congratulations, banks in Japan. You’ve become even more useless to me now. And, it’s further proof that Japan is a little less tourist-friendly. It was already low on the scale to begin with.
I’d rather pay a little bit more at the airport than go to a bank now.
Trip to Vancouver
October 15, 2009
I thought I would write on my blog a bit everyday about my recent trip back home but I guess I got a little lazy. Two weeks just flew by so quickly. The best part was that I didn’t even do much in these two weeks. It seems like all we did was eat and go shopping. Instead, here are some random thoughts about a variety of topics – all kind of Vancouver-related.
Food
It’s strange that the food I most craved were the simplest of things. I got to eat all the foods I wanted: lots of dim sum and Chinese food, poutine, a White Spot hamburger, some candy bars, steak, and salmon. I also ate a lot of junk food at night with the sister and drank way too much coffee. People seem to drink so much coffee these days and there are Starbucks and other coffee shops everywhere!
Friends & Family
I got to meet a few of my only remaining friends in Vancouver during this short trip. Dennis took me to this neat little restaurant by False Creek followed by Yuk Yuk’s. The old school ELI crew met me at Hell’s Kitchen.
I met my relatives twice for dinner. I haven’t really had much of a relationship with them for a long time now so the conversation was non-existent. Call it being cold but I don’t care to initiate conversation much anymore. The way I see it, if we haven’t kept in touch during the seven years I’ve been away in Japan, why start now? There wouldn’t be much in common anyway. Perhaps one day in the future I’ll come to know my cousins better.
The person I spent the most time with during this trip was my sister! We managed to watch the last three seasons of The Office together, a show I managed to addict her to. She took us to the Ghost Train at Stanley Park and while the line for the train took an hour, it was a fun thing to do.
Wing Chun
I visited and met two Wing Chun teachers in Vancouver and saw some differences in teaching and interpretation. One teacher was extremely patient and even gave me some pointers. I will definitely meet him again when I have the chance. The other teacher was a bit less polite. He assumed a lot of things about my Wing Chun without even trying out some chi sao with me. He showed me a lot of his style and explained many concepts which he felt was lacking in Hong Kong Wing Chun. I beg to differ on these points because I feel he doesn’t fully understand how HKWC is. Perhaps he met some inexperienced HK practitioners. Regardless, it was an interesting and educating chance for me to meet these two teachers.
Shopping
I hate shopping but I still managed to buy a lot of random stuff. I bought new shoes on impulse. I bought two old video games. I bought I think about 5 Rifts books and a couple other random books. I bought new sunglasses. I am a shopping whore.
Driving
The one thing I most thoroughly enjoyed doing was driving again. It took ten minutes to get used to my old Honda Civic and I was shocked at how badly my family had treated the poor car. Am I being crazy in saying that one can have a bond with a car? I know everything about that car and this bond helped me get used to driving very quickly. I drove almost everyday even if it was only to get coffee or to go to Safeway.
I did notice that people did not wave to say thank you anymore and there were a lot more asses on the road. That was not fun. I still hate driving downtown and during rush hour. Driving in Richmond is still a lesson in self-loathing.
Still The Same And Yet
In the end, I think Vancouver has changed a lot and yet it hasn’t. Esthetically, sure, there are new train stations and the Olympics seem to be the talk of town. There seemed to be a lot more gang violence and there were at least two shootings during the time I was there. Still, after the initial reverse culture shock had subsided, I felt right at home. The roads were basically the same, the weather, the food, the atmosphere. I even woke up in my old bedroom with strong urges to get ready for school.
I really hope to come back more often because there is a certain amount of guilt I carry for not being with my family. It’s like I should be there to help carry heavy boxes, shovel snow, take my parents out for dim sum, and all the traditional Chinese son things one needs to do. With that in mind, see you soon again Vancouver!
Vancouver is the same
October 05, 2009
I’ve been back in Vancouver for about a week now and it’s been great. As many changes as there have been, Vancouver is still basically the way I remember it. Navigating is still the same and drivers are still mostly asses. The new train lines are very convenient but since I’m using the car everyday, I haven’t rode it much.
It rained the first few days but then again it wouldn’t be Vancouver without rain. The Woman is coming in a couple of days and the weather is supposed to be sunny all week. She often brings about nice weather.
I’ve met most of my relatives and spent a little time with them. I still don’t have much to say to anyone. Yet another thing that has not changed.
I’ve spent most nights watching The Office with my sister. I’ve recently addicted her to this fabulous show and watching on her big screen is a great experience.
UFO
October 02, 2009
I think I saw my first unidentified flying object on Tuesday. Being back in Vancouver, I was going out for a drive and getting some late night snacks with my sister. Stepping out of the front door, I immediately notice something moving in the sky.
It was at night so the sky was dark but I did notice a triangular shape moving west. It was triangular with three round objects on each point. There were no lights. At first I thought maybe those three points were birds but they flew in perfect unison and the whole triangle was rotating as it was flying.
It made no noise and it wasn’t too high up in the air. Because of this, I don’t think it was very big but I really don’t have an estimate on size. It wasn’t moving very fast, it was… cruising. Unfortunately my sister missed it by the time I pointed it out.
