The before and after shoots of a changed man.

Prior to his trip to Canada, Snickers cooking very rarely went further than heating up water for rammine. He wanted to "cook" Korean food one last time before we headed off to Canada so here he is eating them in Incheon airport.
And then there's the after shoot. Not only did he shop and pick out the meat but he got a bunch of side dishes too, cooked rice, lit up some candles, and then he cooked AND served it to me in his little short-shorts!

A Changed Man... Tuesday, August 31

Where is my husband and what have you done with him? And who is this other guy?!!!

...

It was pretty fun noting all the mixed reactions and differences Snickers could distinguish between Korean culture and that of Canadian culture but the funniest was one that happened at my parents’ house.

We walked in to find my father preparing dinner.

“Your father cooks?” Snickers whispered to me.

Dinner went on as expected and while the rest of us were still eating, my father got up to start the dishes.

“Your father cleans, too?” Snickers whispered to me.

After dinner Snickers asked me if my dad cooking and cleaning was a normal thing. Yes, yes it is. My parents share the household chores and ever since my mother got sick he’s taken on a big part of the house responsibilities.

With every meal we ate at home with my parents Snickers looked on with amazement towards my father. It’s like he couldn’t believe his eyes. “See, I told you. In Canada husband and wife are a team… they’re equals.” Prior to traveling to Canada with Snickers, I was constantly pointing out things and adding “In Canada… “ to daily conversations, so it was nice for him to see just how true my “In Canada…” comments were.

Another big observation was made by Snickers and it happened after we visited Teddy’s Restaurant. “Almost all the cooks in Canadian restaurants are men!” Honestly I had never thought about it before but come to think of it now, it’s pretty true. Unlike Canadian restaurants, the cooks in Korean restaurants are almost always women and they’re usually middle-aged women, like peoples’ moms. Places like the restaurant where I eat ‘fire chicken’ have the odd man cooking there but it’s because they’re dealing with heavy metal plates and open-flames on a grill.

So, back to my original comment… “Where is my husband and what have you done with him? And who is this other guy?!!!” Ever since we’ve returned to Korea, Snickers has done a lot of cooking and doing of the dishes. He’s been cooking up a storm in the evening. Cooking up full sit-down meals with side dishes and after an intense training session at boxing, his efforts not only prove to be very delish but are certainly much appreciated.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's the leveling like in your house?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The man may be the head of the household but the woman is the neck that turns the head.
-- my Mother

I'm drawn to the lake like a fish so trips to the lake while in Canada were quite frequent.

But jumping on my old school BMX and strolling off to the lake on it was awesome. Through in the fact my beautiful husband was riding beside me and ya... perfect.

BMX Girl is Back!!!... Vacation Recap Continued

Unlike the expected overly-touristy trip many people thought Snickers and I would be having in Canada, we had a lot of down time. I tried to plane a trip that had the people, places, and things that I thought not only would he like but that are important to me. Lake Ontario has always been a hot spot for me. Whether it's the lake side part in Toronto, my hometown, or in other cities, I'm drawn to it like a fish. Having said that, one day I thought I'd take him on a bike trip to the lake side in Oshawa.

My dad got the bikes down from storage, we cleaned and washed them, and then off we headed to Lakeside View park in Oshawa. Snickers rode my mountain bike which had all the fancy gears on it and such.

I opted for my BMX bike. Everyone who knows me in Toronto knows that it was my trademark while I lived there. I was the notoriously known "BMX Girl" of Bloor West Village. Funny story is that one day some kid tried to steal my BMX bike while I was weight training. He didn't go to far though cause some local kids who knew of me and my BMX spotted him on my bike and ended up snatching it away from him. Ahhh... my beloved BMX bike. I use to ride that bike every where. I once even rode it along the lake shore boardwalk path from Toronto all the way to Whitby.

Enough reminiscing...

It was great to jump back on my BMX like old times but dang my butt hurt and boy did my legs get a great grueling workout with it not have any kind of gears whatsoever!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What favorite of the past do you wish you could bring back?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
There is no old age. There is, as there always was, just you.
-- Carol Matthau

I really should throw in a clear before picture of what this river looked like before the massive rainfall. It's been raining for the past few days straight and this is a shot I took of it after the rain had already raised the river quite a bit.

And here's another after rain picture. Note that only the top couple of steps are visible. I should add here that in both pictures the rocks in the middle of the river which I cross at least twice a day are fully immersed in the water. In the second shot though, the plants that have bombarded the river bed are also fully immersed.

The weather forecast says it's suppose to rain every single day this week, minus Saturday that is. And here I thought Korea's rainy season was over. Looks like we got an overdose of it this year... yikes!!!

Park Side Brawl?!... Monday, August 30

Drama always goes down on my street at least once or twice a week, it’s inevitable. I've seen full grown men, bar owners I'm assuming, chasing other guys down the street with baseball bats, women fighting with their drunk mates, boyfriends carrying their puking girlfriends on their backs, and the list goes on. So much for the need for television, I've got the best seats to the local entertainment right at my doorsteps. Having said this, I’m not sure whether it’s the park or the river that lures in such trouble makers or the fact that people seem to think no one is around here that always bring the late-night drama.

Recently we’ve been having this particular group of university kids that keep on coming around. The group consists of about 9 guys and 2 girls, one of which always insists on laughing her head off, which only leaves Snickers and I wanting to pop her head off.

It’d be one thing if they sat and joked around in the park at a sensible time but they always seem to come around 2 or 3am. Recently my tutoring has been switched to 6am, so I have to wake up around 5am, meaning that waking up extra early in addition to the already retardedly early morning is certainly not appreciated.

Tonight Snickers thought he’d play the hero. He threw on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, his hat, and his sandals and headed out the door to go tell them to go home. I was watching by the window and though I didn’t have a clear view of the kids in the park because of the tall trees, I did manage to see a couple of them scramble and hide behind various trees. I assumed it was because they could see Snickers coming down the stairwell.

Anyways…

Out the door he went and over the short park fence he jumped. No sooner had he walked into the park but then I saw his head hit the ground. I had no idea what the heck had just happened but I was convinced one of them had jumped out at Snickers and hit him.

“NO gets away with touching my husband”, I told myself.

So I yelled out, grabbed some clothes and raced out the door still half-naked. My heart was pumping, my fists instantly were clammy; I was sure I was just about to get into a street fight.

Turns out he had slipped on the mud… oh my gosh.

He stood up, told the kids to go home and then we walked back to our house. The kids went home and then we both had a good laugh at the whole situation. I apparently scored brownie points from Snickers for the whole race-down-the-stairs-half-naked fight mode I instantly had sported and he noted that my bed head alone would have worked to scare those kids off… hahaha.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Fight or flight, what route would you take?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Ask advice only of your equals.
Danish Proverb

My beautiful man helping Bobby-B out with the family photo shoot.

The plan was for him to take shoots of my father and all his siblings but what ended up happening was they took shoots of every family member present... definitely a cool memory keepsake.

The Notorious Polack Reunion... Vacation Recap Continued

Of the many things planned on our trip, the big family reunion was surely on our much anticipated list of things to attend. It was hosted at my Uncle Albert's beautiful lake side house and was attended by not only Snickers and I but also by about 40 family members, making it quite the grand introduction into the family for Snickers.

A number of my cousins and I have stayed in touch via text messaging on our phones and Facebook but it was so great to see them again in person. A lot of Polish hugs were dished out and an equal amount of Polish jokes were made... hahaha.

Snickers loved meeting all the mini-Polacks of the family but kept a particular eye on one of my brother T-Roy's daughter who has apparently also developed a quick liking for him.

My uncle's house made for the perfect location for the reunion and it was so great getting to introduce Snickers to the rest of my family. I think the memory of the day that will forever stick with both Snickers and I was the fact that many of my relatives showed up with Korean sentences scribbled down on pieces of paper. First it was one of my aunts who surprised us by breaking out into Korean. She had pretty much killed the Korean language but had scored major points for sweetness. Going through this same situation with other relatives only made me feel more proud of my family than ever. It was such a wickedly sweet way to break the ice and try to welcome Snickers into the family... thank you!!!

My brother Bobby-B had big plans of doing a massive family photo shoot, so he was busy doing that for a good chunk of the day. Snickers had instantly clicked with Bobby-B, so he acted as Bobby-B's assistant. Snickers worked away helping my brother while I continued socializing and catching up with family. Turns out I'm not the only Polack in the family with an attraction towards the Asians. One of my uncles, the only bachelor in the bunch of brothers, likes Asian women and has dated some Korean women. "See" I told him, "once you go Asian you never go Caucasian!"... hahaha.

My uncle has a boat so it was quick to fill up with relatives all wanting a spin around the gorgeous lake.

The family reunion was a huge success and it was sad to leave them all. They had surprised me with a birthday card signed by all and a big cake. at first it was a little overbearing for Snickers, being through into a pack of Polacks, but he ended up having a lot of fun. Numerous members thought it funny to try to scare him, telling that if he better not hurt me "... or else!". No worries there, Snickers is a total softy when it comes to me. Anyways, we had spent the whole day outside in the beautiful fresh air and it wasn't until late in the evening that we all parted our ways. Yet another Polack reunion down, and yet another great one now to look forward to.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's family to you?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
There's no place like home.
-- Author Unknown

Just one of the MANY applications my Optimus cell phone sports.

Take a Look at This Bad Boy... Sunday, August 29

Sundays here in Ggum Guum means watching excessive amounts of fighting on TV, practicing the moves out on each other, Snickers and I that is, and then waiting the rest of the week for the bruises and scratches to go away… hahaha.

Cheered on Randy Couture in the UFC 118 today and was happy to note that he took on and took down Toney. I’m sure all my friends back at System Fitness and Extreme Couture in Toronto will be celebrating tonight.

I use to train at System Fitness in Bloor West Village. It was a big fitness club run and operated by a wickedly funny guy named Doug who later than opened up an ultimate fighting fitness club called Extreme Couture – where Randy Couture trains out of, hence the name.

I don’t train there anymore, obviously (because I am now in Korea), but instead train at UP Boxing Club here in Cheonan, South Korea. Today I headed back into training and kicked off my return to boxing by going a full five rounds non-stop with Junior Mint on the pad work. I upped other parts of my usual routine at the club and then added in a new weight training routine, made courtesy of DroidFit on my cell phone.

I must admit that like so many of my friends back in Toronto who are all attached to the hip of their cell phones, I too am now an official cellphone junky!!! I love the applications of my Optimus cell phone. There’s this one particular application that I love, it’s call DroidFit. It helps you create a weight training routine and keep track of your sets, reps, and maintain a profile. I like how it lists off various exercises for select muscle groups and then, if you don’t know what that select exercise is, you can simply press on the name of the exercise and a little animated diagram shows you the details of it.

Enough application free promotion though… I love my Optimus phone and yes, I have become one of those “touch-my-phone-and-die” people… hahaha. Seriously though, it’s pretty cool. I wake up to Arnold Schwarzenegger saying “Hello Cutie” as my alarm clock, a cat meows whenever I get a text message, the bell rings “Warning the husband is calling” whenever Snickers calls, it’s loaded to the brim with applications galore, and it has a solar battery which makes it all too easy to charge this bad boy up!!!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What does your cell phone do for you?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Mine is better than yours, nah-nah, nah-nah, boo-boo.
-- Me... hahaha

It's literally been years upon years since I last had a tasting of any kind of Polish soul food, so it was nice to walk down Little Poland with my parents and with my husband and indulge in some.
I wasn't about to indulge in Snickers' campfire hotdog though... nasty fake meat... hahaha.

Food Testing and Tasting in Canada... Vacation Recap Continued

I was eager to venture back to Canada to see my much missed and much adored friends and family but bringing someone else along for the trip (Snickers) brought the trip to a whole new level. A bit part of the excitement of this trip had to do with introducing Snickers to new things, new people, and new places. I really wanted him to get a feel for Canada, so it was particularly fun getting him to taste test various foods.

I wasn't sure to how he'd take to Canada foods though. Snickers is true to Korean roots in that he doesn't eat much food that's not Korean but he does eat his weight in it. "You've got an expensive husband!" one of my friends in Canada joked to me and it's true. Surprisingly enough, despite him having a very limited amount of Korean to him, he did manage to put on a bit of weight while in Canada and my family saw first hand just how much this guy can wolf down.

We thought it fun to bring some Korean food to Canada to introduce to my family and friends. On one particular evening, my family and us sat down to taste test the various goodies. For the most part my family needed some explaining to as to what was before their eyes.

Bobby-B seemed to like the Korean foods the most. As for my mom however, she commented "I think I'd starve to death in Korea". She wasn't a fan... hahaha.

Once our little introduction to Korean foods was done with my family, it was time for Snickers to start his twenty-day Canadian food testing tour... hahaha.

In between screaming our heads off on the rollercoasters and splashing around in the water at Canada's Wonderland, he got his first taste of funnel cake.

It was rather larger than I remembered so I just HAD to help him out with it... hahaha.

He then tasted his first Toronto lakeshore BBQ burger at my favourite beachside hangout.

He definitely had his fare share of BBQ foods but his favourite by far was the filet mignon my parents cooked up in the backyard for him!!!

We attended the Hot & Spicy Festival at the haborfront in Toronto, where we tasted some Malaysian and Carribean foods.

About halfway through our trip he was itching for some Korean food, so I took him to Little Korea in Toronto where we stocked up on Korean groceries.

In Niagra Falls we had a cute little double-date picnic with my parents and he tasted first hand what a Canadian picnic consists of... cut veggies and no gas grill like Korean picnics.

In Roncesvalles (Little Poland), my parents and I had fun introducing him to some good old Polish foods. He had some Polish perogies, Polish sausage, and then we finished off lunch with some old fashion Polish style donuts.

And of course, we just had to take him to one of my family's favourite restaurants... good old Teddy's Restaurant in Oshawa.

During our little weekend camping trip with some of my former coworkers from back in the day, Snickers had some campfire firsts. I introduced him to the wonderful world of marshmellows and then we both enjoyed a fire-cooked blueberry pie .

My friend's husband insisted he try cooking up a hotdog on the fire. I'm not for fake meat so I was a no-go on the hotdog but Snickers seemed to enjoy it.

Snickers tried a whole whack of new foods but a trip to Canada wouldn't quite be complete without a Timmies; a coffee from Tim Horton's coffee shop. He loved the iced caps but I think his favourite was the English toffee coffee.

I'm happy to note that Snickers and I both share a common love for coffee; it's a part of our daily routine. Mid-day coffee breaks are a must-do in our house, consequently we must have about a million and one different coffees... no Timmies though.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What food is a must-try to you?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
There is no love sincerer than the love of food.
-- George Bernard Shaw

Hmmm... We went to some random coffee shop today to study, me to study fitness and him to study Japanese, but as you can see not much studying got done.
He played with the new applications on his phone and I played with my camera... hahaha.

Times Are Changing... Saturday, August 28

I’ve only been back in Korea now for a couple of days but already the ball is rolling and times are changing.

-- Snickers was offered a fight in Australia but with it being but only a week away he declined it.
-- My gas company language group got canceled.
-- Tutoring at Samsung is now scheduled five days a week at a shocking 6:20am.
-- Yet another boxer shot-gun wedding may be in the planning.
-- Pressure on me to pop out a baby is back on as a result of Mama Kim dreaming of a snake – apparently that signifies the birth of a boy. To me, a snake signifies evil… very fitting in this situation… hahaha.
-- Snickers has started to study Japanese, in addition to English, as he pursues a possible work proposition in Japan.
-- Got offered a possible personal training position and am stoked about it.
-- Wishful thinking of moving to the Philippines may be more long term than just the anticipated three months.
-- Mouse Doctor broke up with his girlfriend and has apparently replaced her with a golden retriever.
-- K-Gere and his girlfriend are house-hunting, meaning he may be getting married soon and moving out of Cheonan.

I miss Canada like a much needed arm or leg but missing it and holding on to good times I had but only a couple of days ago isn't going to help me readjust to life in Korea. Days have been quiet so far, just basically lounging around the house with Snickers, but I am happy to note that I am back on track with my running and Monday I'll be back at boxing.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What will next month bring?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
-- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Spending lots of time, giggles and memories with my family made for a perfect birthday. Thank you!!!
And an ice cream cake was a great surprise!!! I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Recap of Canada Vacation... My Birthday

Not too sure on how to go about recaping all that went on and went down while Snickers and I were off in the Great White North but I'll start with my family birthday dinner party.

Originally my mother had suggested we head off to one of our favourite restauarants but I ended up getting the much overdue good old homecooked meal I had wished for. My brother T-Roy and his family came over and my other brother, Bobby-B, had come up from the States for it. Last time I saw T-Roy he was a one-child father, now he's got two daughters. It was great to meet his second daughter.
As for Bobby-B, I haven't seen him in four years. He hasn't lived in Canada for a little under a decade and I, well you know, I haven't either. His visit this summer would only be two days -- my birthday and our family reunion.

Prior to us traveling to Canada, Snickers had already taken a liking to Bobby-B so it was interesting and really nice to see the two actually meet face-to-face.

Part of Bobby-B's short visit included planning a photo shoot at our family reunion BBQ up at our Uncle Albert's house. The main focus of our trip to Canada was designated towards spending time with my family, my parents in particular, so we slept over at my parents' house for the most part. Spot. ing my father at the airport was like playing "Where's Waldo?", a game to which I've always been a master at. With his salt and pepper hair, big grin and Polish head, I spotted him right away. When I then went to walk down the ramp towards him, I then spotted my mother -- a much, much smaller version of the one I had last seen two years ago. Her body is now cancer free, thanks be to God for that, but now she's still 80lbs smaller and is sporting quite the cute short hair do. I couldn't help but stare at her thin arms and her legs. I remember my mother once noted that my father liked her for her curvy legs but now they're much thinner and not as strong.

Our schedule was filled with lots of cuddling in the grass and lounging on the patio swing with the family.

Snickers noted to me that I looked quite comfortable with my niece but I joked and blamed it on the chilly Canadian weather... hahaha. I knew Canada's summer would be much chiller than Korea's but I totally forgot about the early morning and evening drastic drop in temperatures... yikes!!! My inital early morning jog was greeted by a shocking face on my part; it was too cold. I ended up layering up and then going back out after a ten minute "you-can-do-this" talk to myself.Snickers is a big softy for kids so it was no surprise that he'd latch on to T-Roy's little ones and pick them at any chance he had.

"Don't get any ideas", I constantly mumbled to him. Kids are cute, some of them, but they're not all they're not all cracked up to be and I think Snickers got a glimpse of this. Having said this though, at one point in our trip Snickers started to bribe me with regards to having a kid. "If you give me a baby I'll buy you whatever dog you want and let it live in the house". I laughed at his offer. "A dog for a baby?! Great... Mi Nam is all I need so I guess you're out of luck big guy!"

Our trip to Canada was filled with various kids -- friend's kids, relatives, neighbor's kids, and numerous uninvited kids that left us rolling our eyes -- all various forms of two-legged birth control. I'm not a kid-hater, don't get me wrong, but it drove me bonkers to have bratty kids attend what I thought was adult-only events. I guess I should have put "must be taller than the average elf" on the invites, dang. It's one thing if my friends want their kids to control them but to have them pee on my parade and kill our plans was another thing. I don't plan on having any kids but I'll be damned if I ever cancel plans or bring my kid to some kind adults-only event... it's called getting a babysitter, seriously! Life shouldn't stop after having a kid, nor should you willingly let it. Anyways, it left many of us (friends and family included) frustrated and left sour spots in our vacation. Even my father noted that it was uncalled for... and so my interest in ever popping out a kid has reached the minus numbers!

But back to my recap... seeing my two brothers and my parents was great. They really warmed up to Snickers, so I was quite proud of that. Snickers thinks Bobby-B is the coolest cat ever and is already hounding me to let him travel to the States so that he can visit him. A should note a big congrats here to Bobby-B on his recent engagement. All the best to you brother -- marriage isn't all it's cracked up to be, it's SO much more and so much better!!!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What are you fond of?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Abscence makes the heart grow fonder.
-- Author Unknown