Life is not a dress rehersal

In My Defens God Me Defend

I had an unbelievable time in Scotland. I managed to hit the 3 major cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Obvious as it may sound, each city was very much different in what was its main features.

I had read that Glasgow was once a industrial hub, now it presents itself with old fashioned buildings infused with the urban sprawl of a major city. The night life was definitely something to be admired of and the people were sincere and very accommodating. I couldn't believe that many times during different conversations, I had to get them to repeat what they were saying because I had no idea if they were speaking Gaelic or English.

A photo of the snow we had to drive through. Crazy!

No more sausage.

It never surprises me when I come to Korea that everything changes. It seems like an obvious and blatant observation but all the stores which I came accustomed to, no longer exist or have changed to a Western branded store which is the flavour of the month.
The other day, we went shopping to Dongdaemun and were walking in freezing my balls off weather. Me being the ignorant foreigner, I didn't dress warmly enough only to have been given an Australia jacket that I ironically bought him from Australia. So we walked by this street store which amassed around 15 people in a line. Through the gaps between heads, I was able to see that it was a store called, "Mr Wow". Mr Wow was now synonymous to sausages with buns. I felt a sense of pride that the Australian Saturday bbq had now infiltrated the delicacies of Korea. I chuckled to myself knowing that their bbq was a mere remance of our bbq's back in Australia but not the real deal. But the Koreas flocked like fly to crap to get a taste of this.

David was now convinced that he wanted one so he ran back to get into the line, only to be greeted by a skinny chap letting him know that he had run out of sausages. WHAT THE HELL? You ran out of sausages? Does KFC run out of chicken? Does Maccas run out of burgers. What a serial killer this guy was. Man...the look of Dave's face was one which would make his mother cry.
Now the adventures of Korea draw to a near as we face the Haggis eating Scots.

I really love this game

So the latest craze at the moment revolves around a ball being guided into a ring successfully. This being a difficult task as at times, the ring seems to have shrunken, the ball has enlarged without human interference or our skills that once existed during our coordinated years cease to operate at the maximum capacity.

A bunch of mates got together finally to put this basketball team together. After much deliberation of the name, the colour of our jersey and even the font of our jersey, we finally put the team together. We are by no means a competent team. But we're a team nonetheless. Our most recent run has form has shattered my hopes of making the finals. People would ask me, "How do you think you'll go?" I was always positive with my answers and without hesitation, I would blurt out, "we'll make the finals." Optimism is a trait that I carry in all facets of my life however this was not optimism that I displayed but pure miscalculation. Our initial support team made up of predominantly girlfriends/wives/friends has dwindled to a virtual one.

Although we have yet to secure the first win of the season, its not about winning but its about the game.

Wilt Chamberlain once said the following:

They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds.

For that reason alone, basketball...its just for fun.

Back to blog

I find myself stumped with so many endless things to do that all I could think about was writing. I never was induced to writing long and emphatic entries into my blog. The new search engines that are available on the net scare me. I mean if a bloody website can tell where you are, what you're doing, what dressing you had on your salad, we're living in an obsessive world.
It brings to mind that idiot who posted that he was chucking a sickie on his facebook and one of his managers finding out about it. I have no doubt that he was probably in no capacity to make it to work but to stupidly disclose this to the rest of the world is a hard lesson to be learnt as he did. He is now ridiculed and the 'idiot face book guy'. Note to myself: Never say i'm chucking a sickie on facebook. The problem is that googlemaps is probably on my street taking photos on a 'sick' day.

What a crazy couple of days it has been. With the Melbourne Cup ( who the heck backs a 40:1 horse) and the US Presidential election, it has truly been a media frenzy. I remember speaking to some yankee friends. Their opinions were divided as much as they were expansive. Coming from relative neutrality to backing the underdog, I realised for the longest time that Barack was not the underdog. I think it was the convincing speeches that McCain spoke in which he demonstrated his inept capacity to lead the US. All his speeches prior to the actual election was ovewhelming conclusive that he was going to be the 44th President of the USA.
What was interesting was McCain's concession speech. I was mildly amused as I was expecting McCain's lack of stretch in his arms during his speech. Quite to the contrary, McCain's speech was very uplifting and one of the best concession speeches I have ever heard.

"I don't know – I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election."

I am sure if he asked for suggestions, his inbox would fill in 1 day.

"We fought – we fought as hard as we could. And though we feel short, the failure is mine, not yours."

This marked for me a sign of humility and gratitude towards all the people who had supported him. A remarkable man who could have been the single handedly, the most powerful man in the world. His reputation supercedes his efforts in this election campaign. My hats off to a gracious loser. His last few lines empitimise his attitude. Not being an American, I felt a sense of errie loyalty to the Yanks.

So what lies next for Australia is possibly an Aboriginal Prime Minister. Got weird looks after saying that at work.

Canyon of Grandness

Well I know that I am about 4 months behind on my blog but I best update it since I've got some time on this short easter break.

Well anyways, amidst all the gambling, casinos and the lavish lights, we decided to do a drive to see the Grand Canyon. The best mountains that I had anything to compare to this picturesque place was Blue Mountains in Australia and Baekdusan in Korea.

No words can describe how breathtaking this place was.
The last remaining people on this trip.
Seriously this place was freezing. The wind factor was definitely something we didn't account for.


This crazy Mexican. He fully just jumped the rails and peered over a large hanging to see the bottom of the canyon. To test how deep it was at the bottom, we started to chucking rocks to see when we could hear it land.

Posing....we felt it was something that needed to be done.We were actually on an Indian Reserve and as it was sacred ground, we had to pay an entrance fee but it was definitely worth it. Also the memories of riding in one car.
The newly weds...Its so cute it disgusting. The little patches of white is actually snow. The sunlight does not help at all in this situation.

Well the only thing left from my trip is Seattle and San Francisco but I can't get those photos up because my camera was left in the US and my cousin hasn't sent it back yet.

4 day break is just isn't enough sometimes.

Vegas Part 2

Currently Listening Wonderful World By James Morrison You Give me something

After all the many weddings, it seems to be easy street for a little so I am having a Saturday to myself. I want to catch up on the tennis and watching the soccer anywhere that has FOX sports!
My predictions:
Chelsea Vs Liverpool (1:0 Liverpool)
Man Utd Vs Arsenal (2:1 Arsenal)

Definitely one of the most visited Casinos in Las Vegas is Bellagios. George and the crew of Oceans 11 made this place into must see destination.
This is the ceiling of main entrance of Bellagio. The amount of detail that goes into this part of is stunning.
The sad corruption of a beautiful ceiling.

Uh Huh! It was beautiful when you have music to it.
It was so amazing how everyone including people driving, just stopped to admire this spectacle.

This was our bar at the top of our Hotel.

Willy and I spend so many nights talking about random things. He was like my roommate in most of the places we stayed. Definitely a laughter to my day.
The best Hotel Casino was the Wynn Hotel. (http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/index.jsp)
This guy is a tycoon in the Hotel Casino Business. No one is as innovative and creative in the business as he is.Some of the unique things about the hotel are:
*He has put his name on it so it has to be good
*It has an exclusive golf course that has been designed by some the biggest Pros of the PGA.
*It has a Ferrari Store. Just in case you win the millions you've always sought. A great place to spoil yourself is at this store.
*Best chefs that have been sourced from all over the world.

Seriously I could list so many more special and unique facets of this Casino so I'll let the photos do the talking. Lets just say that I didn't win too much money here.

The casino is really beautifully crafted. Each detail of it is purposely made.

As we were sitting outside on one of the bars at the Wynn, we watching in amazement as the water fountain changed ...to this...
to this...
and then to this..
By the end of the shows we saw here, we became numb to everything being so creative and arty.
The last hotel that we visited was the Venetian.
Most famous for its man made stream of water in the middle of the hotel, it was one Eunji didn't want to miss.
Also our last day in Vegas coincided with Julie's birthday. We thought it would be nice to give her a ride in one...along with Dave and Eunji...we're still not sure why Steve was on this.
Steve looks like he had so much more fun the rest of them. Willy and I decided that we would save this special ride with someone a little bit more significant in our lives.
Our Mothers! The Venetian was the most generous Casino that I visited. I managed to pool back some of the money I lost in the other Casinos. This is the last remaining tour group. Seriously only Asians take shots like this. Steve was granted the chance to become an Asian with us. Some of the classic European artwork which featured in the hotel's ceilings and walls.
Well that concludes my Las Vegas Trip. It was an mind blowing journey through Sin City. I can't explain in words being there. It needs to be something people try at least once in their life.

I guess these photos will spur memories of an entertaining holiday.

I just want to congratulate Steve and Mel on their marriage. You guys did it!