As the story has it, one day I headed to the opposite side of the globe – the Flipside. I arrived in Korea February 16th, 2005 and thought I’d do a year, then leave. I was wrong. I stayed, launched my first company, Flipside Fitness, and then opened Korea's largest boxing club, Hulk's Boxing (now called Hulk's Club).

After 11.5yrs in Korea, I then picked up one day and returned to Toronto, Canada. But then I left again.

Now I live in the Philippines where I am the CEO and head coach of Empowered Clubhouse, the Philippines' first and only boxing clubhouse exclusively just for women. I also am the founder of the Lil' Sistas Project, CEO and designer of Slay Gear and Baa Baa Black Sheep .Ph.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Not Fully Canadian Yet... Thursday, August 27

Setting up a Canadian bank account today definitely made me feel more of a Canadian and less of a tourist.  I was giddy when the bank teller handed me my card.  I haven't had a Canadian bank account for over 11 years now.

Having to pay for a simple doctor's appointment, definitely killed my I-am-Canadian feeling and returned me to feeling like a tourist.  Sixty bucks just for the doctor to see me.  It wasn't even a big deal either, just a simple health check.  

I don't have a health card in Canada anymore because I gave that up long time ago when I signed papers stating that I was a resident in Korea.  It got me out of having to pay taxes in both Korea and Canada but it also meant that I had no health coverage every time I visited.  It wasn't a big issue in the past because I never visited long and if anything ever did happen I could simply deal with it upon returning in Korea.  No such luck now though considering I'm here for a year.

Three months to get my new health card... ouch.

Lets just hope it comes in time for my fight because I'll probably be going in for a mandatory health check both before and after that fight and if I don't have coverage that's going to cost me a pretty penny.  I suppose I should say nickel now, Canada doesn't use the penny anymore.

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