Archive for February, 2009
February 27, 2009 at 11:13 am · Filed under Lifestyle
One of my fav magazine issues is coming out. Consumer Reports 2009 Car Buying Guide. Luckily, its online. The Hyundai Elantra SE made the top pick of small cars. Good to know in case I ever need to buy a Korean car.
The Korean won has hit its lowest level in 11 years, and its the biggest loser among major currencies. Gawd! I need some Korean CD’s and bonds until it’s reasonable to transfer won to dollars.
Where does the time go? Everyday I jump on the internet. I first start my daily downloads. I check emails, and then I sift through my internet feeds. Before you know it, 3 hours are gone. Man. And I’m still not through my feeds.
The students are back, today (Friday). They’re doing some cleaning around the school. Teaching starts on Monday. I should start doing some planning. *cringe* I wonder where they buy their uniforms? I’ve missed the school lunches.
One of the Korean teachers told me that I should sign up for the ‘Tennis Circle’. Boi, don’t put me in no ‘Tennis Circle’. I will buy some shoes, a racquet, and I will go to TOWN on yo asses. I’m talkin’ ghetto, so you know I’m fo real real.
After my trip to Jeju, I could feel a cold creaping up on me. It started with a light sore throat, a sniffle, and now a full blown nasal congestion. This is the first time I’ve felt sick since returning to Korea. I think it’s due to the changing weather and the torture I put my body through on the Sunday mountain climb.
Let’s see. I’ve been watching American Idol, Survivor, Important Things w/ Demitri Martin, The Wire (first season), BSG, UFC, and No Reservations (of course). Why has The Office been on hiatus?
I’ve only watched the first episode of Important Things, and I liked it. It was better than the the typical ass/fart/drug/vulgar joke shows that Comedy Central usually puts out.
I’m going to try harder to eat something breakfast-ish in the mornings. Recently, I added cherry tomatoes, raisins, soy nuts, and saltines to my shopping list. I always have the urge to snack between meals. Though, that will probably change since I’m back at school for most of the day. I need to buy some bananas
Beer #2 has been bottled. This one is the Golden Sheif Wheat. It didn’t look very wheatty when I took a gravity sample. It didn’t taste wheatty either. I dont want to use white or brown sugar in my beers. I can’t buy corn sugar in Korea, so I’m going to mess around with corn syrup. In one week, I’ll reattempt my Brown Ale for better results. I’m also going to try and harvest my yeasts to fit the beer styles.
Yesterday, I went to one of the major electronic districts in Seoul. I went hunting for camera lenses. All the retailers are fierce to get your business. However, as soon as I told them that I wanted a Pentax lens, they backed away. No one had in stock the lens I was looking for. Not many had Pentax lenses, period. I went to the Pentax booth, and the guy said he couldn’t get the lens I wanted. Regardless of availability, I want to support Pentax even more than Canon and Nikon cameras. If I upgrade my camera body, I might still go Pentax.
February 18, 2009 at 1:27 pm · Filed under Lifestyle
It’s been awhile, since I posted anything. I’ve been writing stuff, but most of them are sitting in text files on my desktop. Here is some quick stuff.
12 hours into Dragon Quest IV on the NDS, and the game is finally picking up. All this time, I’ve been playing through separate character chapters. In each chapter, I’ve had to level up new characters starting at level 1 … terrible.
I think I hate anyone with ‘Hello Kitty’ paraphernalia. No matter what statement you’re trying to make, it’s not cute.
Making money in Korea used to be good. I’m reading, now, that Japan’s economy is starting to take a hit. Hopefully, the won and yen will even out, soon.
The weather dropped to freezing levels, again … brrrrr.
The Gimp is a free graphics editing software. I’ve tried so hard to like it, but I’m going back to Photoshop.
For the first time, I went drinking in the downtown area of my city. I’ve always stuck to the University neighborhood for my watering hole. I went with some of the professors from the local University. Surprisingly, it was their first time, too, and some of them have been here for over a year. For a Saturday night, it was dead, but technically, it’s still winter vacation.
I’m taking a trip this weekend. Naturally, I’ll be taking photos, but I still haven’t uploaded the photos from my last 2 trips. =/
I watched a BBC Horizon called “Why thin people aren’t fat.” It was a 30 day study where they asked thin people to eat twice their daily Calorie intake and limit their exercise. All of the subjects gained weight, but with different results and findings. I though it was interesting, but I would have liked to have seen more data from their findings. Most of the people resorted to eating chocolate to reach their goals.
I’m, of course, a skinny guy, but I think most of my problems come from overeating and trying to finish all the food placed in front of me. That, and I’m lazy.
I, also, finished Season 3 of The Venture Brothers. Man, I love that show.
February 7, 2009 at 10:55 am · Filed under Lifestyle
First, I’ve been listening to Zechs Marquise and Bodies of Water. If you like The Mars Volta, you may like these.
I watched a Nat Geo called ‘Journey to the Edge of the Universe’. It served it’s purpose in making me feel extremely insignificant.
On the web, many dorks will not stop talking about a service called *dwitter* (name changed to ease my rage). Every time I see or hear that word, I want to go postal. I do not give a shit about it, and that’s all they ever talk about. I dont care about signing up, subscribing to *dweets*, or the latest shitty use for it.
What I have been following are some new Pentax and photography blogs. I’ve been trying to read up on some new photo tips, news, and reviews. I’m thinking about buying a new camera lens. Since, some of them cost the same as a new camera, I want to make sure I’ll get the right one for my photo needs.
In fact, I’ll be killing the Drifting thru Korea blog sometime. I’m going to transform it into a photo blog. I’m not a good writer, and others do a better job when talking about Korea. I’d rather post a photo and write a caption.
The weather is supposed to touch 50 for the next couple days. Nice. Where are you, Spring?
Reading Crime and Punishment and a Korean history book.
I download a lot of internet media, like the Revision3 content. I wish they’d start using bittorrent again for their distribution. Korea has fast internet connections, but I always get a slow direct download rate from their servers (20KB/s). Bittorrent, PLEEZ.
Watched the Miyazaki film Ponyo. Wow. That was a slow movie; I fell asleep. There’s no twist to the movie. You pretty much know the premise from the start, and it doesn’t deviate at all. Terrible.
