On route to my home away from home... the boxing club.

"Wouldn't it be great if you could rent out the top floor, above UP?" someone asked me today.

"Ya, that'd be so great. Then I for sure wouldn't get out or have any kind of social life." I noted.

Such a Dinky Little Thing... Wednesday, June 30

Trying to bring a portable CD player through security at Blue’s company front gates was like pulling teeth and they reacted to me as if I were trying to smuggle in a bomb or pound of crack. First, there was the initial response that consisted of them convensating it, then they asked me a million and one questions, and they insisted I fill out a couple of forms that then needed to get signatures. Through in the fact that all this went down in rapid-fast Korean and not a word of English was thrown in and… ya… wow!

Security swarmed around me and I despite being paid literally a dollar a minute to tutor Blue, I seriously questioned whether this silly amount of money was really worth the hassle. Workers busily going in and out of the front gates stopped to watch me like I was some kind of side-show free entertainment.

“Thank God I didn't bring my Hello Kitty player”, I thought to myself.

For the most part I understood what they were asking me but it really seemed like such a big hassle. I needed the CD player for my tutoring with Blue, so I couldn’t not bring it in. I already know I can’t bring in any kind of recording device, like a computer, tape recorder, or even a USB, but I stood there and argued with them on the fact that my CD player is a dinky little thing with no microphone. It doesn’t even have a tape deck attached to it or a place to plug in a mic.
I was running a bit late as it was, so I had to decide whether or not go through the hassle or ditch it and show up to tutoring on time.

“Come lady”, I heard someone say to me.

I turned around and there was the Sangyoung Hulk whisking me away by the arm and scooping up my CD player in the other hand. I was appreciative of his help and he quite enjoyed being the so-called hero of the moment – just like the old Sangyoung Hulk would.

“No thank you?” he asked.
“Maybe you should be the one thanking me” I noted.
“Why?”
“I don’t exactly let people touch me, unless that is you’re in the ring with me.”
“You tell me where and when, and I’ll get in the ring with you”, he added.
“And you’ll what?... Kick my butt?! Tell me how your foot feels after… hahaha” and with that I ran off to Blue’s office.

QUESTION OF THE DAY…
You think you can man-handle me for free?

QUOTE OF THE DAY…
Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.
-- Timothy Leary

Happily

married

to him... strangely enough, hahaha.

He's was a Bucket of Chicken... Tuesday, June 29

As if it wasn’t already a bit weird that my tutoring student Blue runs a multi-million dollar company that employs thousands in Korea but, as it turns out, he’s also employes a familiar face from my not-so-past past.

A little background note is needed here.

When I first moved to Korea I was living in Sangyoung-Dong, Cheonan. I now live in Shinbu-Dong, which is the downtown area of Cheonan and it is about 15 minutes away from my original stomping grounds.

Anyways, true to my fitness fanatic ways, I use to work out at this one particular gym in Sangyoung-Dong. I was buddy-buddy with all the trainers and was surely a familiar face among the regular evening gym bunnies, one of which was this particular guy whom I use to refer to as the Sangyoung Hulk. For a Korean guy he was quite large and muscular. I thought he was hot but he was rather arrogant – he knew he was hot. He thought he was all that plus a bucket of chicken and was always stirring up trouble both in and outside of the gym. I remember when my ex-fiance, Poo, visited me in Korea. Poo and I were walking down the street when along came the Sangyoung Hulk on a bicycle. “Look at me baby!” he yelled out to me. He was always doing stuff like this to me, teasing me, and he was notorious for saying that one-liner. He was always saying it. Whether it was after a hard last rep in the gym or him spotting me out and about in the street, he just couldn’t say that one-liner enough. The only comeback to it was teasing him about his poor English. “Is that all the English you got?” I use to blurt out.

I remember a particular situation involving him, my buddy Mook (a personal trainer at the club) and a very loud argument involving Mook telling him to never touch my face again or else. I should note here that he only touched my face because I had a dab of ink smeared on it. Regardless, it was an intense scene at the fitness club and the manager stepped in to stop them. I never saw the Sangyoung Hulk after that. The gym ended up closing and by the time it reopened I had moved to Shinbu-Dong and had joined a different gym.

Today I saw him!

I was going through the airport-like anal security check at Blue’s company when someone called out my name. I turned, smiled, didn’t recognize the guy at all, so I continued on my way to Blue’s office.

Tutoring lasted only a half an hour today on account that Blue had some prior engagement. When I left his office and started to make my way to the front security gate, again I spotted that same guy who had called out my name earlier on this evening. It was then that I clued into who he was.

He was the Sangyoung Hulk!

Although he didn’t look the same as I remember, he’s still a good-looking dude. He’s cut off his wild perma-wave hair, toned down on the bulkiness of his arms, and no longer sports his bad-boy smirk.

We chatted for a bit at the front gate where he works as security. “So does this mean I’ll be seeing you every day?” I sarcastically asked. “I want!” was his response.

The last I saw him was about four years ago and a lot has changed for me since then, of which my appearance has definitely changed. It was strange but it kind of reminded me of those Jenny Jone shows where the geek turns sheek and gets the perfect revenge against that old high school buddy by showing up and dropping jaws with their newly acquired beauty and happiness. I don’t think I was ever really pudgy but I know I have definitely toned up, leaned out and am happily in love -- two-sided love. I now sport my natural hair and have ditched the glasses and contacts for laser correction surgery.

He commented that I looked different and asked me for my number, so I noted to him then that I am now married. “Really?” he asked. “Oh come on… look at me baby!” was my response.

Hahaha… felt nice to turn the tables.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Were you the bully or the bullied?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Live well. It is the greatest revenge.
-- The Talmud

Tonight's entertainment was watching Snickers and Panty Boy Jr. spar.

It was lights out for Snickers pretty much as soon as we got home. He was tired when he showed up at boxing tonight so sparring sucked up every ounce left of energy he had stashed away in his body.

Carb Cycling... Monday, June 29

With my trip to The Philippines just a couple of weeks away and my trip to Canada about a month away, I've been using these two trips as a means of motivation to fuel my clean eating and intense training.

Sticking to my clean eating has been doing wonders on me but because of my increase in exercise intensity and amount, I've been dropping too much weight. My metabolism is through the roof but I don't care for the number that pops up on the scale, I care about things like muscle definition, muscle strength, and body fat percentage.

My solution, carb-cycling.

Carb cycling is more of a short-term approach and is meant for fine tuning your physic as supposed to dropping a lot of weight. It's not meant as a weight-loss or maintance diet, instead it's meant for people like bodybuilders and others who already have an athletic healthy body but want to either cancel out a plateau or bring about more muscle definition.

I don't want to lose weight, if anything I want to put weight on. I weighted in today at 50.6kgs and that was before training. That's way too light for me and Junior Mint was quite shocked when he saw this number flash on the scale at boxing. Weighing in at game weight when I don't have a game yet schedule can really work against me. It'd make me the lighter fighter, meaning that my opponent would be easy to push me around and control me in the ring.

In addition to sticking to my clean eating, I'm using carb cycling to help bring out my muscle definition and to lower my body fat percentage. Today was my high-carb day, meaning that I got to indulge in some much needed carbs like rice, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes.

High-Carb Day: 3-4 of my 6 meals include a starchy carb
Low-Carb Day: 1-2 meals have a starchy carb included
No-Carb Day: pretty self-explainitory (no starchy carb with any meal)

I started my day off with my usual protein-packed pancake, cooked a couple small sweet potatoes in my rice cooker, and then I ate yuk-hae bibimbap (the carb being rice here) after boxing. Yuk-hae bibimbap is like the usual bimbimbap with veggies, rice, and red pepper paste but it also has raw beef in it -- a favorite of mine. Bibimbap usually ranges from 600-800 in calories and is high in the carb count and although today was my high-carb day I made sure not to include all the rice that accompanied my bibimbap and I went light on the red pepper paste.

Tomorrow will be my much-hated no-card day. I can’t stand no-carb days because I crave my protein-packed pancake and being denied it only results in mad cravings for other carbs. I use to crave bread like a pregnant woman craves whatever but Korean bread is more like a dessert.

Korean pastries are usually packed with some kind of cream filing, glazed over with way too much sugar, or is loaded with things like sausages, rice or whatnot. Koreans even go so far as to fry bread. Don’t get me wrong I’d love to eat my weight my in bread if I were able to but I feel like I put on weight just looking at it… hahaha. Okay so I’m eggaterating – a tad eggaterating—but Korean bread is definitely not like the whole wheat, multi grain bread I use to eat back in Canada. Finding such bread is like finding a needle in a haystack.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How bad do you want what you want?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Energy and persistence conquer all things.
-- Benjamin Franklin

Wanna look instantly a couple pounds lighter?!... just get a haircut.

The before and after shots of my beautiful man's hair cut. Hair or no hair, he'll always be delish.

No Rest for the Wicked... Sunday, June 27

It’s a Sunday and though this is our usual training-free day, with Snickers’ upcoming fight and the pressure of it building up, today was nothing close to a training-free day. Because Snickers trained, I trained. Sunday is the one day the weight training gym where Junior Mint has been taking Snickers in the early morning is closed but that didn’t stop Junior Mint from calling him out for training.

Off to the boxing club to pound away at the sand bag and pad work Snickers went. I, on the other hand, went and did my 10km route. Later in the afternoon I attempted to go for a little jog with Mi Nam but that almost resulted in me doing a face plant. Mi Nam just can’t seem to run in a straight line. He runs as straight as a drunk man with a case of beer in his belly.

In the evening Snickers wasn’t feeling up to par. I blamed it on the mellow mood of Ggum Guum. Our house is just so chill feeling and it’s so easy to switch into lazy mood because of it. I struggled but managed to get him up and out of the house for a late evening walk around the Dankook lake.

I was happy to note just how many runners were out and about running the path around the lake. There were so many people strolling around too. Kids were rollerblading in the mini roller rink and the badminton and basketball courts were packed with people enjoying the summer evening and being active.

See, no one ever said exercising had to be painful and boring. And no one ever said it meant shilling out money for a gym membership.

I use to be such a gym rat in that I loved weight training and I loved running on the treadmill. I haven’t stepped in a weight training gym for almost eight months now and I don’t miss it at all. Snickers use to push me to do what he calls “natural weight training” and I use to hate it but now I’m all for it and all for training outside now.

By “natural weight training”, he’s referring to skipping the weights and using the body weight instead. Whether it’s pull-ups on the monkey bars, push-ups off the end of the slide, or sit-ups using the merry-go-round, all these exercises utilize your body weight, most are compound exercises, and they can be done just about anywhere.

Moreover, running outside kicks the treadmill’s butt. Not only are you carrying your bodyweight forward as supposed to just running-on-the-spot, but it works your legs harder because of the natural ups and downs of the terrain (ie. hills and valleys), but it’s harder to cheat when you run outside. Unlike a treadmill where you can just simply step off of when you’re tired or unmotivated, when you run outside no matter how tired you are you still have to make your way back. Sure you could walk back but that still involves more calorie burning than simply pressing the stop button on the treadmill. And then there’s the issue with the climate you train in. Running on the treadmill in an air-controlled fitness club will burn calories, sure, but try packing on the layers to keep you warm during a winter run or try battling the heat during a summer run and you’ll see that the treadmill can’t compete with the intensity of running outside.

Lately I’ve been running 5-6 times a week and I can’t seem to get enough of it. I’m back to my usual running/boxing schedule because of my morning and early evening tutoring, so I run in the late morning and then I go boxing around 7pm. I like to go running around noon, when the sun is at its peak, and despite the heat I’m still running with a sweater and hoodie on.

It’s funny cause I feel comfortable when I’m running but feel like total ‘doggie poop’ right when I stop. The blood all rushes to my face, my heart continues to pound through my chest, my breathing tries to calm down, and then I’m totally overcome with sweat and heat. Snickers helps me stretch after my runs, so he leans and pulls my legs, arms, and back in different directions to stretch out the muscles.

The initial five minutes after the run is killer though – I hate it – and it isn’t until I’m finished my shower and flop down on the floor that I feel terrific for having just ran. The feeling I get after an intense workout, whether that be boxing or running, is like my drug. I’m addicted to it and nothing, so far, quite gives me the satisfaction and feeling like it does.

I am who I am today because of everything I did before today.

Everything either helps or hinders you and I am glad to note that I now know the difference and am making a difference with myself.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What do you do to keep fit?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Just do it.
-- Nike

Introducing my latest addictions, the first being "Ice Guy" in peach. All it basically is are peach-flavored ice chunks in a plastic bottle but I love it. I find I eat the most when I am bored so the fact that this takes so long for me to eat means it poses as a very effective snack. It kills any boredom, satisfies any cravings I may have for something sweet, and at only 10 calories and a fat zero on the carbs, what's not to like?!

My latest craze with getting in my daily veggies has been these massive tomatoes that I found at a local store. I'm convinced these tomatoes are hooked on steriods because they're insanely big and oh so juicy... pure delish!!!

A Mouthful... Saturday, June 26

My usual style of eating consists of eating lots of fruits, veggies and protiein. However, with wanting to strut my stuff on the beaches in The Philippines, I've been wanting to drop my body fat percentage and thus have gone back to my "three day style" of eating -- a no-carb day, a low-carb day, and a high-carb day.

Today was a low-carb day, meaning that I would only allow 1-2 of my meals to have a starchy carb, and this is what I ate.

Meal One: 7am
Protein-packed pancake --> 4 egg whites, 1/3 cup of blueberries, 1/3 cup of oatmeal, and ½ tablespoon of peanut butter spread on top

Meal Two: 10am
1 homemade latte --> made with skim milk (no water), sweetener, coffee grains
1 “Ice Guy”

Meal Three: 12:30pm
My “Egg Pizza” --> the 4 egg whites pose as the 'pizza crust' and then I add tomatoes, green pepper, and broccoli, and then I sprinkle of cheese on top. It's like an omlette but not quite.

Meal Four: 3pm
Spinach shake --> lots of spinach, 1 small yogurt, 1 cup water, ice cubes, 1 banana, 1/3 cup of blueberries

Meal Five: 6pm
1 garden salad with chicken

Meal Six: 9pm
Small bowl of nuts --> almonds, flax seed, sesame seeds, peanuts, other
½ cup of boiled milk

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
If you are what you eat than what does that make you?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The body is an instrument, the mind its function, the witness and reward of its operation.
-- George Santayana

Pictures the didn't quite make the cut included close-ups of my lips, fingers, ears, and even a surprise attack on my belly button. Leave it to the Dynamic Duo Twins to take random shots like this.
And then, like always, they take about a billion shots of my black rose ring. They seem overly fasinated with it.

The Cool Kids on the Block... Friday, June 25

Take a look at this picture below. Can you spot the two coolest kids on the block?


Well, if you're not cool enough (hahaha) to pick them out then let me help you out with pointing out just who exactly I am talking about.
Meet Hyun Jun (on the left) and Su Sung (on the right). I should note that besides the fact that they're twins and are so different in more than just the obvious, the obvious being their size, they are my nephews and are in fact the coolest kids on the block.

I initially first met them about a year ago, at one of Snickers' fights, and oddly enough I met them in the public bathroom right after I had punched the wall... long story there.

Honestly, I'd have to say that Hyun Jun is my favorite. He's a pudgy little boy with oversized eyebrows that hover over his beatiful sharp eyes. He's got porcelin skin and is always insisting I let him sit on me and wrap my arms around him. He comes off as very shy but is quite charming and sweet, randomly stealing candies for me and jumping up in the back seat to kiss me on the cheek.

Today Snickers and I picked them up for a little ride and for some ice cream. Hyun Jun, of course, insisted I let him sit on my lap.

My little nephews may only be 4 (turning 5 next month) but they're quick to learn things -- including memorizing my cell phone code and how to work it's camera.

This particular picture was taken by Su Sung.

Su Sung, on the other hand, it took him some time to warm up to me. At first he was rather thrown off by my rough manner and the fact that I tried to throw him around and put him on my shoulders like his uncle Snickers.

Ironically, my twin nephews always tend to be both the biggest and the smallest in their class and group of friends. Su Sung always gets pushed around and Hyun Jun always ends up coming to his rescue. Su Sung eats like a bird, disecting every thing on his plate with his eyes and fingers, and then Hyun Jun comes in and finishes off any thing Su Sung hasn't eaten -- which is basically the whole meal.

Together, these two are quite the dynamic duo and because of this from here on out I will refer them to my Dynamitc Duo Twins -- Batman (Hyun Jun) and Robin (Su Sung).

(Note: No, Snickers is not driving, playing with his nephew and talking on the phone at once. I know he's pretty good at multi-tasking but to do all that is just dangerous and stupid, and he adores his nephews too much to do that!!!)

Along our drive together we had stopped for ice cream. Su Sung (aka Robin) had jumped up on to Snickers' lap and busied himself with Snickers' phone while his brother went through my purse looking for ice cream money... hahaha.

We make the Dynamic Duo Twins always hold our hand when we cross the street but today both Batman and Robin wanted to hold my hand. People passing by gave me the double-look, mistaking me for their mother.

"Don't get any ideas!" I turned and noted to Snickers.

The Dynamic Duo Twins are awesome and, as much as I love scooping them up and having them attack me with kisses, I love the fact that they go home to someone else. Being their aunt is fun and all but I think it's so fun because I know I don't have the responsibility and stress of having to raise two boys. They're at the perfect age right now. They can put on their own clothes, they know what they like and don't like, they have their own personalities -- they're mini people. Age 4 for a child is a great age but it's getting to that age and the fact that they continue to get older that I don't like.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like babies. They're helpless butterball chickens who eat, sleep, and poop, and quite frankly I rather have the butterball chicken cause at least when you get sick of it you can eat it.

Ya, that didn't come out right.

Anyways... I love my two little nephews, my little niece in Canada is adorable, and I'm looking forward to meeting my new Canadian niece, but I'm quite alright with sticking to the role of the aunt and being allowed and able to come home to my clean, quiet house.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Why have a baby when others can have one for you?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one.
-- Leo Burke

With Snickers being fully into his game prep mode, his eating is severly restricted but he lets himself indulge in a good hearty meal every couple of days or so to come back to reality and help keep him sane.

I for one am a huge fan of Korea's bibimbab. Tonight's bibimbab had what Snickers' refers to as "cow sushi" -- raw marinated beef. I usually add a bit of the red pepper paste because I love it's spicy kick, but opt out on loading it down with carb-infested rice. I like rice, am not a particular loyal fan to it, but am instead a loyal fan of clean eating and working on my 6-pack.

Number Crunchin... Thursday, June 24

Snickers’ Schedule lately:
7am – wake up and drive Amy [me] to language group meeting
7:30-9:30am – weight training and ten 3min rounds of pad work (with Junior Mint)
10-12noon – nap time #1
2-4pm - boxing
5pm – drive Amy [me] to private tutoring
7-8:30pm – nap time #2
10:30pm – 10km run
11:30pm – bedtime

My Schedule lately:
6:20am – wake up
7:40-8:30am – language group meeting
10-12noon – nap time #1
2-4pm - boxing
5:30-6:30pm – private tutoring (Green)
11pm – 7km/10km run
12midnight – bedtime

With Snickers preparing for his big fight and consequently dieting and training like an animal, I too have been really working on my clean eating and training intensity. It's been going good -- great actually but I didn't realize just how much all this has taken a toll on me until I meet up for lunch with Cherry Pie.

I've never been one to finish all on my plate at a restuarant because of my usual 6-meals-a-day routine but today I came pretty close. I yawned as I chatted with Cherry Pie and she was quick to note that my bra isn't filled out anymore, to which I blushed, I love her honesty though. Although my energy levels is quite high considering the frequency and intensity of my daily training, I'm feeling rather unenergetic and unmotivated to do anything else but train.

When I'm not out training I'm usually at home taking it easy -- taking it real easy.

I have a lot of time on my hands but am so unmotivated to get up and meet friends, go shopping, play in the park, or even go to the movies. Getting up for anything beyond training is like pulling teeth in my world right now and if I had it my way I'd live in nothing but my Adidas training gear and boxing boots.

I'm trying really hard to support Snickers 110% but it's been really hard and demanding on me, not only physically but emotionally and mentally.

Today I got offered another fight but rejected it just like I rejected the other. It, just like the other, conflicted with Snickers' scheduled fight and being there by his side at his Philippines' fight is exactly where I feel I should be.

Being 110% supportive is hard! Heading out for a run or going boxing with him every day is nothing compared to having to watch Junior Mint drill him in the ring, push him beyond his limits, or constantly yell and hit him. It's hard to come home from boxing, us both super thirsty and hungry, and yet see him push himself to limit what he drinks and eats for fear of not making the weigh-in. When he's not training, he's sleeping, and when he's not training or sleeping he's eating or drinking very little. His tolerance level for stress is very low right now which, for those who know Snickers, know him for his carefree and easy-going attitude so seeing him stressed is quite odd.

This upcoming fight poses as a first for many things for Snickers. It'll be his first fight outside of Korea; his first fight with his new coach (Junior Mint); his first fight his grandfather and father won't be there for; and it'll be his first fight that I've been the sole supporter of. In the past it was his father who always cooked his meals, woke him up for training, showed up at training to give his two cents, and who did his laundry. Now Snickers lives with me and is facing a kind of Western world reality check with the fact that he now can't be so dependent on his father and has to function as an independent man and a husband. Of course I am here to take on many of those roles his father once did but things are a lot different for Snickers now and he's feeling the effects of it with his upcoming fight.

This time last week he weighed-in at 71.2kgs. Today he weighed in at 67.1kgs.

His face now looks so different and I can feel his hip bones rubbing against mine when I squeeze him tight.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What do you desire?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
One must desire something to be alive.
-- Margaret Deland

The scene from the top floor of Yawoori's parking lot.

You can see in this picture that the Galleria and bus terminal, beside Yawoori, is getting a massive make-over, and you can also see my old apartment -- Sambu. It's that tall greyish-blue building in the background.

Located to the right of the river bridge is my new apartment. I guess it's not so new anymore considering I've been living in it now for almost a year.

From up on the roof top of Yawoori everything looks so organized and peaceful, down below however, it's a whole different story.

The Disappearance of Common Sense... Wednesday, June 23

Frustrations on my plate lately stem from a particular someone.

You’d think that Korea, a country so English crazy, would at least make it a required skill to speak English if you’re going work in an English demanding job. Sounds only like common sense to me.

Apparently common sense isn’t so common.

I recently picked up another tutoring student, a particularly high-up, very successful business man to which I will refer to as “Green” from here on out. Making the connection between he and I was a middle man (well a women actually). She’s been calling me non-stop and doesn’t speak a word of English. I met up with her for the initial interview and after she tested my Korean language skills to its’ full extent with her non-stop, no breathing in between sentences, high vocab, one sided conversation, she threw me out there to see if I had managed to grab any understanding of what she said. Oh, and I should note here that most of this went down on the phone after she buzzed me through security check and walked away.

She left me standing there.

I had to fill out and sign security papers for a major company, go through quite an intense security check that included not only them going through an airport-like check with going through my bags, putting me through a metal-detector and putting stickers on my cell phone, but they also made me apply for a security card by filling out a legal document in Korean.

Today marked day one of this new tutoring job and I already want to quit because of this middle woman.

I’m hired to teach English because I speak English not because I can speak Korean. I’m by no means fluent in Korean but beyond the language skills I’ve learned and have picked up, I’m pretty good at connecting the dots and making sense of the missing pieces.

She’s missing one major piece though. The fact that she works in a field that is so English demanding and yet she doesn’t speak English is beyond me. Snickers' English is higher than hers and that doesn’t say much considering he's apparently made up his own Konglish vocab and insists on using his new favorite word [damn] for everything from a noun to an adjective.

“Let’s open up a Chinese restaurant if this is the case!” I blurted out to Snickers, cause God knows I can’t cook and, beyond jjajang-myun, the only thing I know about Chinese food is it’s always served with a fortune cookie… of which I found out they don’t even have fortune cookies in China!!!

This is my beef these days.

It wouldn’t be a big deal if it weren’t for the fact that she’s now resorted to calling my husband in stalker-like style, calling him up daily for random questions related to me and my teaching.

You do realize that the average foreigner in Korea doesn’t speak Korean very well, right?! The fact that I’ve studied Korean and speak it on a daily bases because of my boxing and my husband is a pure bonus, so since when did it become a requirement? It’s not, that’s my point. And had I been another average foreigner, this whole situation would have been next to impossible to play out.

I don’t get paid to speak Korean and Snickers doesn’t get paid to be my secretary, so if that makes me a B-I-T-you-know-the-rest for not being so willing to put up with someone’s nonsense then so be it.

Know your role!!!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Does anyone know where common sense has gone?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Common sense isn't so common.
-- Me

Ready, set, pose!!!
Good job my fiesty little Russian Chum-Buddy!

The Aftermath of Filming... Tuesday, June 22

The shoot was supposed to finish at 1am. Snickers had taken it upon himself to drive all the way out to Suwon to pick me up – a two hour drive—but when 1pm rolled around though we were no where near finishing.

2am came… 3am came… and then 4am came too.

When we hit the 4am mark I called it a day.

I went up to my agent and told him that I wasn’t going to stay any longer. I know shoots usually go longer than anticipated but it had gone three hours past the finish line. I had specifically asked them the other day if this would be an all-nighter shoot, in which I would have not agreed to do it had it been one. Moreover, it going so beyond the finish line meant Snickers had waited for me for three hours in the car in addition to doing the two hour drive there. I had my early morning language meeting and Snickers had anticipated weight training with Junior Mint at 7:30am.

They tried to urge me to stay but my loyalty first and foremost is to my husband and out of respect for him I couldn’t bare to make him sleep outside in the car any longer. So, on that note, I left.

Got word later on from my beautiful Russian Chum-Buddy that they called it a wrap at 7:30am today… yikes! Not cool… definitely not cool at all!!!

I tried to stay awake during the ride home because I knew Snickers was exhausted and I feared him falling asleep at the wheel. Two times I fell asleep and both times so did Snickers, well for a second or two, so two times we almost crashed into passing cars… scary stuff!!!

We arrived back in Cheonan at 6:20am. I snoozed for 20 minutes before I then got up, washed my face and headed out to my language group. Snickers never did make it to weight training but instead slept in the car while I did my language meeting.

Upon arriving back at Ggum Guum, we then crashed.

Slept from 9am to 5:30pm.

Went boxing from 6pm to 7pm and then weight trained from 7pm to 7:40pm.

Did light grocery shopping and then called it a day at 9pm.

QUESTION OF THE DAY…
Do they think they can get away with that?

QUOTE OF THE DAY…
Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made.
-- George Burns

Some of us foreigners had to wear props, like baseball t-shirts and baseball caps, while some had to wear silly things, like the two crazy hats these foriegn extras are sporting. I for one will be the first to say that I thought that baseball thing-a-ma-jig on his head rocked!!! In addition to making his head larger than life, it also echoed his voice... hahaha.

Unfort. for the Korean extras, many of them had to resort to wearing these God awful blonder-than-blond wigs. The director wanted the crowd to be mainly of foreigners but it was just too expensive to hire all foreigners, hence the wigs.

Note, the four blond wig-wearers are all guys. Props to these Koreans though and props to the Koreans who actually tried to sport the wigs with style... it was just too funny!

On Set for the Shinhwa Commercial... Monday, June 21

Headed off to Seoul today for a commercial shoot. In Seoul, I then boarded a bus with another 50-some foreigners and off we headed to Suwon, the commercial location. The commercial was meant to look like it was taken at a baseball game but we sat in this massive soccer stadium.

The shoot was for Shinhwa bank and in addition to the 50-some foreign extras and 80-some Korean, extras, they had also brought along a professional baseball player, a Korean gagman, and a British actress.

They had us sit in the stands and the various scenes they filmed consisted of us screaming at the camera when he came to our seating area, doing a crowd wave, catching a fly ball, and then a scene where the main Korean actor stands up and yells at the camera with his “I love you mom” poster. It was fairly easy work but rather tiresome having to sit for so long and it left me with a sore throat from all the yelling. For the most part I sat beside this one particular Russian girl – most of the foreign extras were Russian actually. She and I chatted the hours away and took random pictures of each other and the crowd.

Some strange things went down at shooting. First there was the one Korean male extra who initially got my attention by eating a pack of coffee minus any water and then blurted out “I love you”. Then there was this one Russian male extra who had a hissy fit with the model contract they made us sign, to which my seating partner on the bus joked and blurted out that he must be an illegal immigrant. I was given the look of disgust by one female Russian extra when I refused to answer her "Isn't my son cute" question -- to which my honest answer, had I had said it, would have included a reference to the "ugly tree" and him taking out all the branches. I hate when people ask me those kind of questions. It's like backing me into a corner. Like honestly, what do they really want me to say, more importantly, what can I really say? My options are basically only "yes" and "yes"... right?!

Anyways, another gave me the evil eye when I said "no" to her "don't you want kids" question. Then there was the fact that we all showed up at an unprepared set, so that was definitely not cool. And then I got secretly passed a business card by one of the crew members who mumbled to me not to call me but instead text him; he supposedly wants to take my picture… sketchy.

Tonight's filming made for a very long night and an early morning -- more about that on tomorrow's posting though.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Will they actually fool the viewer with those wigs?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it.
-- Stephen Leacock

Beware of the sleeping beauty of Ggum Guum.

He may look all pretty and such but he's got a pretty harsh bite to him!!!

Note this is a picture of my hand AN HOUR after he thought it funny to bite me. We were horsing around in the morning. I had him in a pretty good head lock but he pulled a cheap move by chomping down on my hand to get out. I, being the Polish stubborn mule that I often can be, refused to give up easily and almost drew blood in order to not lose to a boy.

Father's Day... Sunday, June 20

Today marked Father’s Day, well, technically tomorrow will Father’s Day considering Korea doesn’t celebrate it and today is tomorrow for Canada... did I lose you?

In the afternoon I drove over to my father-in-law’s house on the scooter with Snickers. He was busy making herbal medicine and getting super dirty doing so. He bought me a popsicle – my latest addiction – and we chatted for a bit.

I called up my father to wish him a happy Father’s Day and Snickers jumped in on the conversation. I’m happy to note just how excited Snickers is to meet my family in Canada and it was so evident when he briefly talked to my parents on the phone. Instantly at the sound of my parent’s voice, Snickers went from being a 26-year-old man to that of a 12-year-old child. He got really giggly and equally smiley.

“Hello mom! My name is…” he giggled out to my mom.
“Hello! My name is Mommy”, she replied… hahaha.

So cute!!!

In less than two months I’ll be sitting beside my mom and dad, sipping on Tim Horton’s coffee, and chatting with them in English… wow, won’t it be grand!!!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How great is your dad?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.
-- George Burns

Today Snickers had a photo shoot for his Philippine fight poster and I couldn't help but envy his ice cream-eating habits that apparently have absolutely no effect on his sickly wicked abs.

And to think, he'll only get more ripped as he drops mad weight for the fight. He weighed in today at 70kgs and is scheduled to weigh in on July 16th at 62.5kgs.

Highlights of my Day... Saturday, June 19

Ok, enough with the "Where is Mi Nam?" questions. Mi Nam is doing fine and is as happy, hyper, and as loved as ever. Mind ya, with his constant river-jumping manner and let's-roll-around-in-the-park-sand mentality, he's been sporting quite a dirty face and equally dirty fur coat. None the less, he still remains my right-hand little man.

Korean girls continually scream and step back in fear at the sight of him, to which I respond with "Oh please, don't flatter yourself!" Chowing down on your pasty white meatless legs are probably the last thing he'd ever consider eating.

My dog's diet does not consist of people, let that be known and said for the record.

My dog doesn't find people particularly delicious looking and, in a country that eats dog (though I must note not French bulldogs), my dog has more reason to be afraid of screaming Korean girls than they have for being afraid of him. They see that he's on a lease and yet they still scream. Do they honestly think I'd let him chomp on their legs or something?!

Sorry but that's a big beef I have lately. Mi Nam doesn't bark his head off at Korean girls so why do they continually bark their heads off at him?!

They could only wish to be as cool as Mi Nam... hahaha.

Having said this though, MAJOR PROPS to those Korean girls who are super sweet and are nice enough to call Mi Nam cute... even I don't think Mi Nam is cute, hahaha. I don't want to stereotype and say ALL Korean girls freak out at him but there is a HUGE amount that do. I've even seen some go as far as to purposely cross the street or step into a store when they see him coming.

Mi Nam, with his bug-bulging eyes, larger-than-life ears that he'll never grow into, and his tongue that he never seems to keep in his mouth, is a beautiful little boy that is nothing short of interesting and special.

He will forever remain my little miracle worker. When I had the big heartbreak and crash of 2006, oddly enough and no word of a lie, it was because of him I learned I could love again.

Snickers has somewhat warmed up to Mi Nam but will never fully because of the underlying reason as to why I adopted Mi Nam in the first place. Mi Nam obviously senses this too, so he keeps his distance but definitely keeps his eye on Snickers.

Today Mi Nam and I tagged along when Snickers went to go do his natural weight training. He's stored a massive transport truck tire across town and does various exercises with it. I'm guessing the tire weighs about 35kgs.

Though Mi Nam may never be a big hit with the average Korean girl, he is always a big hit with the Korean men and Korean boys. Today Mi Nam was particularly dirty from having jumped in the river and then immediately after taking a spin down the park slide, but that didn't stop a group of Korean men from calling him over and pinching his cheeks.

Snickers was doing his tire exercises when a group of Korean men sitting under the bridge spotted Mi Nam. I fore warned them, telling them that Mi Nam was seriously needing a shower and a good scrub but they insisted I let him come over. They fed him a couple of their treats and one man even let Mi Nam lick the lid of his water bottle... hahaha.

Mi Nam is the pefect example that you can't judge a book by its' cover. Though Mi Nam may look rather odd and stocky, underneath his dirty fur coat is a big heart and a carefree attitude. Mi Nam doesn't really care two cents for people and much rather do his own thing than stop to be petted. He doesn't bark, doesn't bite, and the only jumping up on people he does is jumping up on me.

I must note that despite the fact that I haven't really trained him to do anything really impressive besides sit, he does seem to be somewhat bilingual; though he doesn't really care to listen to "come here" regardless of what language I say it in... hahaha.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's NOT to love about a little dog that licks your face and greets you with a wagging tail?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Love me, love my dog.
-- Author Unknown

Beware of this tree!!!

It comes in numbers and, apparently, one sniff of it will bring out the animal in you... hahaha.

Highlights of my Day... Friday, June 18

Today we went for a drive in the country, to see what we could see.

I'm still not a fan of this car, I much prefer our scooter, but it was nice to crank up the tunes and relax while we enjoyed the scenery.

Cheonan is famous for it's "hoo-do kwa-ja" [walnut cake] and today I got to see numerous walnut trees. I've seen these tress before but always thought it was some kind of fruit growing on them, not walnuts.

But despite the countryside being overly peaceful and very pretty, there was a particular stink that stunk up the air.

Snickers was quick to fill me in on an old Korean story about a tree... a particular type of tree.

As the story goes, this particular tree has an even more particular smell. It smells year round but is especially smelly in the fall. As to what it smells like, well, the story talks about it giving off a subliminal message via it's strong smell that is similar, and dare I say without laughing, "boy magic". In the fall when this tree is in full bloom and smelling ultra strong, the smell of the tree fills the nostrils of the Korean women and, consequently, fills their minds with thoughts and sexual desires towards men.

A mating smell?!

This is the story's thinking, not mine. I for one will be the first to say that inhaling the smell and hearing this story turned me off and left me wanting a shower... hahaha. I think I'll stick to smelling the flowers, thanks

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Have you smelt the trees?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Different strokes for different folks.
-- Author Unknown

At the Arirang studio dubbing the two shows I just filmed.

Snickers was sweet enough to travel with me to Seoul and wait outside while I sweated away inside the small recording studio booth. It was super hot but ultra fun. Getting to see the final cut was certainly worth all the drops of sweat!!!