Happy New Year!

Well, today I spent the day behind the wheel. First went to the in-laws other place to get it ready for renting out but they forgot the key so I had to do a lightning-fast 45 minute trip back to the new place to get the key (that was fun). We moved in the furniture (it'll be a furnished pad) and I set up the TV stand and such. Then lunch (sushi!) and off to the Hyundai dealership for a test drive (sis-in-law is looking, now that she got the new job). The Santa Fe is not that big a deal, I think. Brakes were sucky and engine (even though a V6) was weak, especially on hills. We went across the street to the Honda dealership but couldn't try out a CR-V...will do so next week, though. Hyundai was pretty silly. They had a poster comparing the XG to the Accord and showed how the XG's 3.5 litre engine was larger than the Accord's 3.0 litre one...but then showed that Honda got 240 horsepower out of its powerplant and Hyundai only got about 180. Hmmmm...I prefer Honda. Plus, they are both the same price and I know the Honda will stand up better in resale value. (Actually, we already have an Accord...I wonder what the numbers would have been if we compared the CR-V with the Santa Fe.)

Here's your Korean lesson for the day: 새해 복 많이 받으세요/sae-hae bok ma-nee ba-deu-sae-yo (Happy New Year!). My friends in Korea had their midnight at 7AM my time, so this is a little belated, but it's about 7.5 hours away here, so I figure I'm alright.

Have a great day, more later.

Last Night

Ug. Last night went out with my bud from a few years back, Roger. Met him when we were both at Equinox Financial together (just before my stint in Korea). Pretty cool guy: he's got an Audi S4 and can hold his liqueur (something that I seem to have lost since my time in the Hermit Kingdom). Anyways, it was a night out at the pubs. We hit the Frog and Nightgown Pub first, then stopped by the St. James Pub (my idea, it sucked, though: no pool table), then the Golden Spike Pub. Ya, all pubs. After that we went to Shinjuku (Japanese restaurant where, as usual, all the staff are Korean) and I had some lovely Zarusoba. I basically crashed when I got back home, then woke up at 4AM, checked email, had a shower, went back to sleep til 7AM, got on the train and then had a meeting downtown. All in all a pretty busy 24 hours, I guess.

My sis-in-law got a new job at Grant Thornton. She's an accountant, and seems pretty stoked with the massive increase in her pay for what should be the same work. It also means she needs to buy a car as there is not good public transit to the office for her, but that gives her another thrill (oooh, I get to buy a car! she says).

Hmmm...not much tonight. I've been adding to my VT pages again. Soon will put some up for Vancouver as well...I may be here a while, it seems.

What to Do on New Year's in Seoul/Korea

Taking it easy on this post. Got an email to my VTmail from a poor soul who is not in Seoul (he's in Gwang-ju, a smaller city in Korea) it reads:

hi...i've been seeing your pages...very informative indeed...need a quick suggestion if possible...i'm a student down here in gwangju...planning to go to seoul on 31st evening for some new year fun...do u have ne places to suggest which have the best to offer? secondly, iz it worth going all the way? cuz gwangju wuz pretty boring last year.

thanks
guy

my reply:

Guy!

Hmmm...I'm actually in Vancouver this New Year's, but I know that there are tons of places with special nights planned (I'm assuming you like frolicking and drinking into the wee hours). Wei-gook-in Central (Itaewon) has the 3-Alley Pub and many other watering holes that will likely be full of English-speakers. The major hotels (Hyatt, Westin) probably have black or white-tie events if that's your style. Me? I'd go down to Hongdae around O-hoo and catch the action down there...or maybe Dae-hang-ro (aka dae-hak-lo). My favorite haunt (The Outsider) may have something special too (tell them I sent you!).

Basically, solar new year's isn't as big a thing in Korea as the West (they do a lunar thing, as you know). Even when they do 'celebrate' they usually do it in their own cliches or at home (the traditional thing is to eat long noodles on New Year's Day (longer the noodle, longer the life). This is also done on birthdays, but in Korea since everyone gets a year older together on New Year's Day they eat noodles at this time as well.

But, since Seoul has a ton more foreigners than Gwang-ju you're a heckuva lot more likely to find inspired and inebriated sorts who can speak your language in the Big Smog.

Hope you have a great New Year's and new year!

JB

Got a new book to read: Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them. Pretty interesting; got through 100 pages in a day or so...which is normal for me. Not the 100 pages, but finishing half the book. Now all I have to do is get the rest done. I don't know why, but I usually start them full-throttle but after a while (at least with books) I think I start to wonder if the author is filling pages or really giving me the goods (I hardly read any fiction, so things are pretty factual). Leafing through it again I am starting to think that I know the conclusions they're gunning for in it already. Oh well, I'm on the train today (going downtown for a bit) so maybe I can knock off the rest of it during the trip (I read about a page a minute...30 mintues on either end...actually 90 pages to go...I could do it).

Finished Another Book

Ah, finally got a library card for the local keeper of tomes. I feel so connected to this place...wonder if I could bear to leave if I got a good job offer...hmmm. On that, I finished another book that I bought about a month ago Running Money. I was a little disappointed, actually. It makes it sound like Kessler (Andy Kessler is the author, and had a great read with Wall Street Meat earlier this year) would give a great rendition of what a hedge fund does. Well, I'm in the biz so maybe I'm not the target reader, but a couple things irked me.

One is that the guy never shorted a stock, just didn't jive with his investment ideas. What? Hedge funds, almost by definition, short stocks of bad companies and go long/buy those of good ones. Buying a lot of pre-IPO (before an Initial Public Offering, or when it lists on a stock exchange) tech stocks in the last 1990s is NOT my idea of a hedge fund. It is, however, a P.E. (Private Equity) fund or a mutual fund. Not a hedge fund. To be true, he did set it up as an offering that only 'sophisticated' investors could get into (over 1 million USD net worth, high income, that sort of thing) but I was looking for more insight into risk management and such: all they did that was advanced was buy 'the box' (subscribe to Instinet and Island so they could buy stocks right from the market) and sell much of their holdings as things were starting to tank (rather than holding the losers) and before 9/11. Well, sorry, that's not my idea of giving something to a reader that he might not already know.

The waxing poetic about intellectual property was interesting...how the good ol' U.S. of A. uses its brains to make money to by BMWs so Germans can buy copies of Microsoft Office and give Gates 90% margins...that was interestins. As was applying it to trade deficits, but I believe if you're after a story of a 'modern' hedge fund this is not really the place to look.

new photo thingy

As you can see it came out looking be-a-u-ti-ful! (Except for the gash I put in it to check if it was done.)

Trying out another photo-uploader flickr...it's ok, but seems a little cumbersome, and I have to edit the code to make it look like the old stuff. How does this look?

or is this style better with the pic on the side...hmmmmmm. is ti big enough??

Wait a Little Bit Longer...

I know everyone is waiting for my Christmas photos, but Hello (my uploading tool) is not working well (i.e., it crashes). So it's text for now.

My wife just came into the room to check her lotto numbers. No dice. She keeps playing these things but never won more than $10 I think...have no idea why she needs to buy them tickets every once in a while. The odds are 13.9 million to one that you win and a ticket costs $2 now; so, the pot has to be above $28 million just to give you fair odds. Add in the event of multiple winners (to split the prize) and it makes even less sense.

Lotto was really big in Korea until they wanted to cut the ticket price by half. Of course the prize would be smaller but your odds were not any different, were they? You still buy the same number of chances for the same dollar (or won, in this case) right? What's the difference between 1 chance at $1,000,000 for $1 and 2 chances at $500,000 for $1? You're twice as likely to win the smaller prize, that should be about it (the number combinations stay constant). With more numbers chosen there may be more prize-splitter, though. Hmmm....maybe there is a method to this madness. The lotto corporastion not only has lower prizes (psychologically lessening the impetus to buy tickets) but also may distribute the prizes to more people (with the splitting of grand prizes). Hmmmmmmm.

There are other ways to get rich in Korea, though...such as by eating chicken. Or the new once-a-minute lotto. (Palli means quickly/fast). But don't go overboard on it (they should have proofed this better, the correct term is 'hanged'). Oh, here's a good idea, let's make a Teen Lotto too so they can get addicted to gambling nice and early! Either way, getting rich quick is a big thing in Korea.

So my last batch of stew had something to be desired. Kate said I should hav used less meat in it and added more water (forgot to add some before cooking, oops). She, in Korean fashion, told me this 2 or 3 times. Ok, whatever, I will...next time. This time is done; I will surely do that next time. Then later in the day her Mom and I were watching T.V. together. She mentioned the same thing. I was growing tired of all this and just said 여/ye/yay (yes) to placate her. She, as you might imagine, said it twice (good practice for her English!) and I just said the same thing. You know, in my mind I was getting frustrated so my short answer was (at least for Westerners) a kind of an "ok, I got it; let's get on with life" thing...but later Kate said her Mom was beaming and overjoyed that I didn't 'talkback' and just agreed with her! Ok, so I do something that could be rude to Westerners (monotone, unchanging, one-word answers) and the Koreans love it? I think I'm getting the picture here. Go figure. Here's your tip of the day: when faced with a comment from an older person just agree to it (of course Koreans reading this will think "Of course!").

North Korea will Attack South Korea

I have a few Christmas pics coming soon, but first this news item. "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il has stated that NK will not attack the South. This leaves me thanking my lucky stars that I am not there now because, if history is any guide to NK reverse-psychology psychology, they will be across the DMZ within 72 hours (making the best of the Christmas break that will make getting command and control in The Pentagon together a little delayed). Of course if this doesn't happen then we can label the NKers as reverse-reverse-psychology psychology-mongers and all will be well until they flip again.

How to Cook a Turkey (James-style)

I got this recipe from my Dad who got it from his mom and I added a little bit to it. If you've never tried to cook a turkey this may be a good primer.

This morning I made the dressing (should have done it last night, but got side-tracked). Just get a big bowl (I use a stainless steel one) and fill it with bread that is cut or ripped to about 1 inch (2cm) squares. You can use white, brown, pumpernickel or whatever you like (don't bother spending too much on it, though, as it's actually not a big deal once it's all cooked). Then throw in half an onion or so (finely diced) and a stalk of celery or so (also finely diced, even the leaves and especially the inner stalks). I also finely diced some mushroom and threw it in there. Now for the good part. With one hand mix up the contents while sprinkling copious amounts of China Lily soy sauce on it (if you can't get that brand then any one that is thick/dark will do...not the light stuff for this one). Once the bread looks like a patchwork cow continue to mix and add poultry seasoning to it as well. Like I say, it's a good idea to let it sit in the fridge overnight, but it's not the end of the world if you don't.

UPDATE: Well, my sis-in-law has a great idea to put Craisins, rosemary and thyme in the dressing...so I'll give it a try. She bought like 2 boxes of rosemary (about 40 little branches of the stuff); I have no idea how much to use nor how much she figured we'd need, so went a easy on it.

Now for the bird. If you buy a frozen one you'll need to put it in the fridge a day or so before the big day...not on the counter or in warm water, you'll just have to plan this out. As it happens, my mother-in-law had ours in the kimchi fridge so it ended up a little frozen, but not too bad. If it's rock-solid on the day of you may need to get medieval on it and try running hot water over it for a while, but I think this in not advisable (not sure why, though). The in-laws bought a Butterball brand one, which I don't really see the need for. Basting a turkey I guess is a matter of taste, but I find that if you have it in a roaster there is no need to baste the thing.

Once you have it out of any wrapping it may be in (DO NOT just put it in the oven with plastic on it or without doing these steps, as some have!) put it in the sink and wash with water.


This is how it starts...in my case a half frozen bird in the sink (note how the legs are strapped into the rest of it).

Now you need to orient yourself. There are 2 ends to this thing:


Here you can see (what remains of) the neck; hence, I call this the 'head-end'. The other is the 'back-end'.

You'll see a flap of skin over the head-end and if you lift it you'll see some paper (part of a little bag). Take the bag out and rinse the cavity.


Here is the little bag from the head-end.

The back-end is a little trickier. The legs will probably be tucked into a flap of skin. Do not rip or cut this skin! Just finesse the legs out of it...you'll need to put them back in that flap before you put it in the oven. If the legs are tied with meat string then cut it and retie with some more later if you can't insert in the flaps for some reason (you don't want these things extending on you during cooking! (Picture it doing the splits in there and some of the meat being overdone as a result.)


Now you can see one leg out--don't force it or cut the flap.

Then take the neck out. Some people fry it up or boil it or whatever to eat it. Most, I imagine, turf it. I also take this opportunity to cut out the...ahem...butt of the turkey. it's just under the flap and no one eats the thing (except my uncle, may he rest in peace) so it's probably best to remove it before someone gets left with it at the end of the meal.


Here is a shot of where the neck came from (the back-end)...too gorey?

Some people also throw out the organs (liver, heart and lungs; aka giblets) that are in the little bag; some fry them up for breakfast the next day. I put them in the stuffing (also called dressing by some, especially my family; they mean the same thing) for flavour. The lungs are pretty tough to cut, and the liver is surprisingly big.


As you can see, we've replaced the normal turkey stuffing with this organ-laced version from Folger's...let's see how they like it...

Fill the head-end first (cuz if you do it second you'll likely have stuffing falling out of the back-end). Once it's full (maybe to near-bursting), use a meat skewer to sew it up (you actually use it like a needle without thread). They are usually 10-20cm long (don't get ones that are too long, like them 30-40cm kebob skewers) and METAL (hint: in a 325-350 oven for 4-8 hours wooden ones may burn or at least smoke).


This shot shows a properly stuffed head end and the skewer holding it all together.

Now, when you put it in the roaster things seem pretty simple. But, think ahead a few hours...how the heck do you get the thing out of there when it's done?!?! Well, there are a few devices you can use:


Option #1: the chain lifter.


Option #2: The 'solid' lifter (not a chain at least). Option #3 is an unpictured meat twine lifter (the lifter of last resort).

I like the 'solid' one as it gives you more control when you take it out. If you don't have one you can (i) use 2 massive spoons to shovel it out or (ii) cook it in a flatter dish and cover with tin-foil instead of in a roaster (but I think a roaster is best).

Now preheat the over to 325 (F) and have it in there for about 30 minutes per POUND (not kg) of weight (site with cooking times here). You may know it's done by the smell, but a meat thermometer will tell you also (I've never used one). Peel potatoes for boiling and mashing when there is about an hour or so left (hint: the lag from when the bird goes in to when you need to do more work may be enough time to watch a football game or two (or a movie...or update your blog).

Island of Fantasy Review

Finally finished Shawn's book this morning. I bought it a week or so before I left Korea and got through about half and then traveling and kids took my attention from it; also, I felt a little gyped (ripped off) because I had read about 75% (or more) of it fro free on the Internet a while back and fumed that I paid USD10 for the same stuff (albeit without as many errors in it). Well, upon finishing it I think it seems more like my story than I'd like to admit. Do all foreigners go through the same thing? Very insightful. If you've never been to Korea, are looking to work here or have a friend who is/has it might be a good read and help you see how things...um...work here (work is a bit of a misnomer, though as things (i) don't really fit and (ii) most work here is not really work in the sense that we have 'back home').

Now I got to thinking that perhaps I should do a little bitty on my times in Korea. Wanted to write one about my stockbrokering days at RBC Dominion Securities or my times with a group of Korean flogging financial products in Vancouver, but those days seem so long ago I don't think I could come up with many interesting situations...but I could add them as backdrop to a Korean story...hmmmmmm. Of course, it would be a labor of love and I'd have to fiction some things to protect the stupid (me) but it could be good.

I'll have to think about this more. Writing a book might take a couple months or so and I'd want to do it all in one go and then come back to it later to edit...thinking...

A Day on the 나루

A couple of days ago I was feeling a little cooped up (got a cold, too, which didn't help) so decided to get the kids (and us) out of the house and to Rocky Point Park in Port Moody (about 10 mins drive from home). First, though we had to get them dressed.


Here Spencer tries to 'guide' Winston back to his seat on the stairs...


...boy, that worked well.

The weather was great, as it has been the last few days. I think that all the rain we get here makes you really appreciate it when the clouds break (although if there are too many grey days you can really wonder when the heck it'll stop).


Spencer looks at the dock.


Ah, some blue sky.

Instead of taking them to a kids' park full of sand to be tracked into the car/house we went to this pier/dock (which I correctly translated to 나루/naru in Korean; as in 여의나루/Yeouinaru...naru means dock or port or pier, actually, not ferry).


Winston and Mom running on the dock.


Kate and the boys on the 나루.


Winston takes a liking to chasing the birds.


A close-up of Winston, some railing and sky.

I figured everyone wanted to see a pic of my sis-in-law who recently turned 30 (a magic age for Koreans), so here it is.


A quick pic of Jessie-Imo (auntie) and the boys.

Back in Downtown Vancouver

It's been a long time, but I'm finally back in Downtown Van. to meet a couple of buds for coffee and lunch. Not posted much in the last while as been busy with the kids and stuff, but wanted to tell you that it has, indeed, stopped raining here for the last couple of days. Today is a real beaut...reminds me of being in Yeouido in the Fall (that's the best time of the year to be in Seoul, in case you didn't know). Ya, like Yeouido except everything is in English (well, almost, lots of Hanguel, Chinese and Vietnamese signs), there is NO smog and no traffic to speak of (almost Christmas so not near as many commuters on the roads).

So, how can I post this? I have no idea where PC-bangs (as they're called in Korea, internet cafes here....God how I hate the name 'internet cafe'...sounds like I'm some espresso-drinking beatnik) are in Vancouver. In Myoung-dong I could ask any teenager where one is (one of the Korean phrases I mastered) but here I had to go to the Four Seasons Hotel and ask the concierge. Now in London Drugs, and it should be CAD5.99 an hour (a far cry from the 1,000 won/CAD1.10 I pay in Korea!) but no idea how you pay and the thing is already on so I guess it's a freebie. They also have PCs at Kinko's, but they are like $18 an hour(!!!). Unreal. Note to self: start PC-bang business in downtown and make a million$.

Man, it is so nice down here...clean, less traffic..but I miss the hustle-and-bustle of Seoul and my celebrity status (although wearing a suit in Vancouver sometimes makes you really stick out here...it's a little on the casual side). Hmmmm....what if we lived downtown and I worked down here and I/the family could take a trip or two a year to Seoul for shopping/visiting. Sounds pretty good. I'm still looking for positions in London, New York and Europe but who knows?

Next time I'll bring my camera and take some pics for the blog. As it stands I have a few to upload from yesterday at Port Moody (near our place) with the kids. I should also make some VT tips for Vancouver...I don't think I could break 200 tips in a year as I did with Seoul, but I do know this city pretty well.

Ok, got to go to this meeting...more later. If you don't read more before Christmas let me say 'best of the season' to you before it's over for another year.

Ohoo Goes Christmas.

Yet another one of Ohoo's shin-digs. I've been to a few of these, but none quite like this. (For those who want to know, o-hoo is Korean for after noon, or PM, but most people end up going there after midnight.)


Sexy Santa Christmas Party! Oh man!


And a Christmas Beach Party! What a way to spend Christmas Eve, eh?

(Click on images and zoom to get a look at the text.)

More on Seoul and Yeouido in Virtual Tourist

For those of you who think I've forgotten about Seoul/Yeouido, I've actually been thinking about it a fair bit this last while. I've been adding to my Virtual Tourist page again (especially my Seoul area) and have over 200 tips/reviews so far. They run the gambit from how to pay for things, what to eat, where to drink and how to find a bathroom. I started this last fall (2003) and am now the editor of the Seoul pages for the site (#1 in Seoul) and am now #274 in the whole site (of over 2.2 million members). So, if this blog isn't enough (and/or you're thinking of going to Korea to live, study or work) please take a look at the pages...if you rate them highly I'll even move up in the league tables!

Thanks for the Memories

I got to give a shout out to Peter who is likely winging his way home to South Africa right now for a little R&R with his loved ones. I grabbed these images off his blog...ah, those were the days when I'd be at one of these places every second night (or thereabouts).


Jo in The Outsider chatting up the help.


Jo in cf making headway with Min-Hee.

Ok, that's enough for now.

Christmas in Errington (Part II)

My sister and her girls (Savvy/Savannah and Scarlett) just came from Nanaimo. Good, now we have excellent babysitters for the boys!


Winston and cousins Savvy and Scarlett on the couch.


Scarlett and Spencer get a ride from Savvy.


A (silence is) golden moment...all 4 kids quietly doing stuff together (nice poses, girls!).


Spencer with doll in stroller (doll is taller than he is!).

Aunt Gayle came over as well (just in time for dinner, she brought the corn pudding, too).


Aunt Gayle, Kate and Winston.


Winston checks out the turkey.


All 4 kids sitting still near the tree...ya, right.

Then came the opening of the presents...ya, this, I think, is Spencer's 5th present-opening ceremony. Spoiled kid! (I truncated the pics, there were sooo many.)


Aunt Gayle gets her Bombay Sapphire Gin (for some reason she has a knife too).


Savvy is quite impressed with her new towels.


Savvy alerts Spencer to the camera as he opens his Play-Doh set.


Dad gets a Ben Hogan golf towel and does his impression of Wilson off Home Improvement.

Spencer lost all interest in presents as soon as the Play-Doh was opened. Hahaha, now us adults can rest again!


Spencer, Savvy and Scarlett playing Play-Doh.


Sue gives Winston a ride.

The ride home the next day was also flawless. 20 minutes early for the ferry, a perfect 1 hour 35 minute ride and even got home in 43 minutes! No traffic! Try that in Seoul; impossible!


Almost home...Spencer checks out the (overcast and rainy) scenery.

Well, that's it. In a few days it's the REAL Christmas...and then I have no idea how Spencer will cope. Next year should be even crazier as Spencer will tune up Winston on the presents thing and they will likely be bouncing off each other at the mere mention of Santa. Yay!

Christmas in Errington (Part I)

We got to the ferry with lots of time to spare. Exactly 45 minutes from Coquitlam (which is a record, I think; especially since I don't think I sped much at all). The views were pretty normal/boring to me, but my father-in-law loved them. "Oh, nice view," and "[Whatever nice view is in Korean,]" he kept saying.

The ferry was right on time (we waited 45 minutes in the van; let me tell you it's better to be early by an hour than late by a minute with these things) as was the crossing (1 hour 35 minutes; it's usually slow, but not this time!). They just renovated them also, so the interior was really nice (not so much like an institution ship, as they looked before). This was my father-in-law's first trip on one...he liked it. Kids did too.


Both boys shoulder-checking in their car on the ferry.


Spencer tries out the slide in the Kids' Area on the ferry...


...Winston too.

Then the quick trip to Parksville from Nanaimo...ah, the new highway made it a breeze too. Maybe living in a pseudo-Socialist country/province.

For this next pic you should know that the first time Spencer saw Grandpa he cried like there was no tomorrow. Winston is a little more sedate but we wondered what would happen if he held him as soon as we got there (he's seen him before, but this was Winston's first trip to Errington also).


Dad and Winston...hey, Winston's not crying!

Kate, the boys and I stayed in my sister's kids' room (they stay here a lot as they live like 30 minutes away). Can you guess what their passion is?


Some horse stuff in the girls' room...


...and more horse stuff.

Here's a trip down memory lane. Pic's a little foggy, but this is the one that got me my first haircut. My Mom had this take at Sears Portrait Studio in The Pas and the lady behind her said, "Oh, your daughter has such lovely hair." "Hair?" she thought, "Sue is bald!...Oh, my son! Good God, time for a trim!" I was 4 years old at the time.


The one on the left is me...ya, the left!

Winston is even more daring in this picture. He loves dogs.


Winston pats Buddy (this kid is a little fearless, good thing Buddy is harmless).


Spencer looks pretty guilty taking those candycanes...


...but they're for the tree. Good boy!

Spencer's still got a little trepidation with four-legged friends.


Spencer carefully pats Buddy.

The next morning my Dad got up early, as usual, and prepared the turkey, as usual. In our house this is a man's thing (yes, I can and have done it as well). The first time my Mom made a turkey she (like most new cooks, I imagine) didn't know that the neck and giblets (liver, kidneys, etc.) are stuffed in the carcass and you need to take them out before putting it in the oven. My Dad asked why there was so much stuffing in the pots (we also sometimes stuff the bird and have some drier stuffing cook in the oven on the side) and how much she put in the turkey. How much in the turkey? Where? It's full! Full of what!??! Holy crap. Well, she never made that mistake again I think the giblets gave off a bit of a smell and weren't too conducive to overall cooking of the turkey.

Here is our secret: make the dressing of bread, celery, poultry seasoning and liberal doses of China Lily soy sauce (only in Canada, it seems!). We bought the stuff by the crate when we lived Up North. Well, we bought everything by the crate. I had no idea what a kiwi was until we moved to B.C. (and McDonald's had them on their sundaes). Fresh anything was pretty rare so we had lots of canned food. Kate thinks I'm weird because I like to go to Costco and get lots of canned food or jumbo packs of cheese and stuff and freeze it, but (frankly) that was the only way people shopped when I was young. We had a room full of food. Well, when the temp dips to -40 (it's the same on Fahrenheit as Celsius!) and the wind picks up and it's snowing you start to see the logic. Coming from Seoul, a town where everything is delivered in 10 minutes, maybe that's a bit of a stretch.

Oh, back to the recipe. Dice up the celery (and the giblets, too, if you want extra flavour--it all gets cooked) and mix it in with bread you've cut into 1.5 or 2 cm squares (don't get out a ruler, it doesn't really matter). Heap on the poultry seasoning and soy sauce (maybe the soy first) and let it sit in tea fridge overnight. The next morning stuff the head cavity first (it's the one with the big flap of skin over it, away from the legs and then secure it with a skewer (10-12cm baking pin) then fill the chest area. Rope the legs under some skin (it's right around there, easy to do) or secure them with skewers or baking string as well (otherwise they'll likely lift the roaster lid while cooking). Then put soy all over the meat (this is great for taste!) and put it in the over at the appointed time. Any leftover stuffing you can put in over-safe pots and cook in the over as well (it'll be a little drier, but still real good).


Dad gets up early to stuff the turkey (not me, the bird).


Better cage this bird, it's good to go.

After that they went golfing at my Dad's club. The closest one is 10 minutes away, the furthest is 20 minutes afield. There are 5 in the area. Ya, bit of a golfer's paradise here.


My father-in-law tries some practice shots in the back yard.

This was a great read. Lots of little factoids (great, since you can break off reading anytime). One was that 46% of Americans got this question wrong: "How long does it take for the Earth to rotate around the Sun?" Kate said 24 hours...but we know it's 365.25 days, right?


Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader...it really is unstoppable!

Next, time to check out the back yard, if you can call it that. It's more of a back-field. Perfect for exploring if you're a little (or big) boy.


In the back 40 (well, it's not 40 acres, just 5).


Spencer wonders where all the other kids are...well, about 2 kms away, I'd guess.


Spencer poses in front of the lovely duck and koi pond.

Enough exploring, time for some trampoline action!


Spencer gets things started...


...then is joined by Winston on the trampoline...


...and Mom too!

Ok, bored of that...let's feed the ducks!


Spencer near the pond feeding the ducks (actually putting the chicken feed on the ground for them, they'll come by later).

My sis and her 2 girls are coming over soon...will add more after that. (Stay tuned!)