Woof! Woof!

I've been looking forward to this moment for a long, long time. I finally got a chance to eat dog meat in Korea! Boshingtang, the kinda meat that make white people go. "No thanks, duuude." I know there's a lot of people that disagree with me on this one, haha, and being a dog owner myself I shouldn't have probably tried it but the curiousity was a bit too enticing. My brother took me to this spot in Non-Hyun Dong and it wasn't necessarily off the hook, but it was darn GOOD. It tasted like Bo-ssam but the meat was a lot more softer. I couldn't ignore the general perception that it gives men its power boost if you know what I mean ;) I should need it to knowing that I'm going 'camping' in a day haha. I'll post pictures as soon I as I get a chance.

Other than that, been busy meeting friends (seriously 5 people I can call family to) and just quickly re-adapting to Korean way of things, how they talk, walk, their slangs and mannerisms. That's been the only worry, the mental aspect of having to adapt in such a short period of time. I'm just glad I've been here before and some of the old memories are coming back. Physically I'm down to 167 pounds (I haven't been below 170 since ...) I was quite surprised because I've been consuming all kinds of junk food knowing I can't have them in a while.

Anyhow, it feels good to be here, be close with family and family-like friends I never had in Paris nor New York. Knowing you have people you can rely on is a great feeling and gives me a certain swagger difference from your own self-confidence. I haven't felt this way in a long time! Staying positive baby!

So Far So Good

That is the best way I can describe my experience in Korea so far. I'm still in awe with all the technological advances here. I can't tell you how much it makes life easier. I thought when I came here I'd feel the 'panic' from the recession but honestly walking down the street I don't feel it much. Everybodys still going out to clubs and bars and spending their money as my brother would say. Over the past couple of days, I met up with my one of my closest homies in my lifetime, Jun and Juan both whom I met while I was living in Peru. These dudes are my brothers, and after all these years aint nothing changed between us but age. I'm really glad I have these folks here that I can look forward to meeting with. It's funny to me, 'cause if anyone saw us together now, they'd probably think how in the world we'd ever become friends. We're all real different in a sense, but it's the high school experience that brought us all together. Since back then, we'd never 'judge' a friend by 'what they do' but solely accept them for who they are. What's also great about meeting up with old folks is that each one of us have a distinct memory of all our past times, it's quite refreshing and suprising.

So I have 6 more days 'till time becomes a friend of mine and so many things are racing through my mind. Six more days my freedom is gone. It reminds me of the day I went to Central Booking for a day for a DWI case in New York and how much I told everyone it's something everybody should go through atleast once in their lifetime because of how you get to appreciate your freedom. The only difference is that was a day, this is two years that I'm talking about. I really won't know what it's like until I face it but I know almost everybody makes it out alive. That's good news, just don't drop the grenade. For the next few days I'll be meeting up with a couple of more folks I knew and watch the time fly by. Hopefully I won't run into some crazy ass people I've encountered along the way, you know, one of those Korean people asking you to go to the 'temple' with them. Weird Buddhists.

Back To The Future

In Korea at last! But...

I hate flying.

Not to mistake hate with fear. I hate flying. It took me ten hours and fifty-nine minutes to stomach my likewise problem. Just a few seconds more I thought, but watched a few years gone by. Eleven hours into the flight, as soon as the tires hit the ground and the plane made its routine turbulence, it was out. I barfed. Like a slick terrorist, I sneaked the blanket I barfed on beneath the front seat successfully like a bomb was to go unnoticed. Then I'm sure it blew, not a real bomb, a stink bomb when it went ahead and got discovered. :)

During the flight though, I sat next to this French guy named Peter, who at first seemed obnoxiously ignorant talking on his cell phone as loud as if his eardrums fell off, was a real cool dude afterall. He was on his way to Indonesia on a connect flight from Seoul, to teach surfing, which is his occupation. He seemed to have it real good, he says he works 6 months of the year and has the rest of the 6 months off and he still gets paid during the offseason. My first thought,

'Where do I sign!?'

Please. I'll take those jobs any day. So he wasn't as fluent in English, volunteerly like any Parisian, but was very fluent in Spanish so we started conversing in it. He talked about two things majority of the time. Alcohol and women. When the subject of women came about, I expressed my disappointment in French women not really being rich in volume. He was quick to engage himself in defense mode, and gouged in his pocket for what he called 'personal' in Spanish, a digital camera with a picture of his girlfriend in a lingerie. +_+. So, where do I sign again!? Nah just playing, lol.

What I realize about Seoul is it breathes the air of convenience of everyday living. They say money is what buys it, but you don't need that when you have a country that's outerspace in technology. Internet is The Usain Bolt. My brother's navigation detects speed bumps, ridiculous. I asked him if it detects gums on the street but sadly we're not there yet. When I went to see a doc in Paris, they had a lamp. I went to an ortho here in Korea, he pulled out an ultrasound system for a ligament tear on my pinky. Public parking lot attendants don't drive the cars up the floors and take the elevator down with it, it stores a car in certain number lot and all he does is punch in the number and it will bring the car down itself.

Other than my amazement of this futuristic-ness, I'm catching up with old real homies and some of the forgotten moments of my past is dug up again, and realize my life was more interesting than I thought, lol. Spending time with my brother is always good and I'm just on cruise control, enjoying life, being thankful, staying positive like always. If you wanna break me down, you gotta go for my mind, but try me. I'm grateful for the real homies that never wavered as well, shout outs to Jun, Juan & Soo. It's 7:25am, so that means I stayed up 6 hours talking to Jun over the phone about our high school days. These moments, priceless.

Life Lessons

I'm Seoul bound tomorrow, half excited, half sad that I'll be leaving the beloved Paris for a minute but hand in hand I believe this is my destiny and I'll be able to fufill the experiences of Seoul as much as Paris.

A friend of pops stopped by tonight and gave me one of the best life advices I've ever heard in a long time. He might be much younger than my dad, but he really knew how to give a motivational speech. Now I'm all hyped to be experiencing something completely different from what I have and going to Korea I know I'll be just alright.

I've been so busy the past couple of days just seeing parts of France & Paris I've yet to see, and it took me 4 + months to actually visit some of the tourist spots I've been lazy to visit. All in all, still haven't packed yet, so gotta get to that right now. But damn, today was a good day, have gone up the Arc du Triomphe finally, then some sushi with moms and pops, then get to listen to some great advice. Anyways, I'll prolly post something up when I'm in Seoul but if I get some time before that I'll post something but otherwise, talk to y'all when I'm in the Far East!!!

Last Minute Gathering

So, I leave for Korea on Thursday. I haven't packed at all, not even bothered to think about it. During the four months that I've been here, I've grown accustomed to this place quicker than I have any other places before. Not to say it would have been my preferable lifestyle. But there's a beauty within this country that is nowhere else, and I know my experience here was just too precious to be bidding farewells with. I will be back though, I know that, and when I do I'm making sure every part of it gets lived up without leaving behind a stone unturned. This place has become one of the many but few that I call 'home'. It will always have a special place in my life that I will tell my kids about one day.

These past few days, I've been having many of the father-son quality time and we've been taking drives down to the country side's of France, going to Versailles, Opera, Lafayette and etc. To have my mom's home cooking on top of that, I'm absolutely loving it. I'm looking forward to Korea as well, esp. those pojangmacha dduk bok ggi's, boong uh bbangs, ho dduk...YUM. I def. wanna try some of that boshingtang too, I hear it's good for men's power ;). Other things I'm looking forward to, reuniting with my brother and sister in laws, with cousins and relatives I barely know, and some year 2030 futuristic internet speed!!! No longer have to be living behind in the 1800's no more, lol. It'll be weird, being around everybody who's Korean again, funny how you feel more out of place that way at first.

These are some pics from Medan, France, a countryside where the famous arthur Emilie Zola once resided. BEAUUUTIFUL. Every part of this country is just stunning beauty. Something I'll never forget about.


The countryside drive in the town.

A place with peace & serenity, couldn't hear a thing moving.

Walking through the railroads, pensive.

Trying to balance my life.

Poppers & lockers @ Trocadero. Btw, they are GOOD.

Right by Opera.

Versailles.

Backyard.

Just endless.

Right by my crib. Rue Jean de la Fontaine!!!

Food To My Soul

Welcome home, Umma! :)

My whole Paris ordeal wasn't entirely as I mapped it out to be, the way I meant to spend quality time with my parents one last time, when my mom unexpectantly had to go to Korea for three long months to oversee our estate. Yeah, not exactly how they planned it out to be as well when 5 years ago we predicted this new property would be a money maker with the economy booming.

Well, we weren't even planning on renting it out nor selling it in the first place. This was supposed to be the home all of our family would move into afterall being as spacious as it is and brand spanking new. But the way our family had been scattered in different places, timing wasn't so right for that. Timing wasn't right as well when the economy took a plunge and it took as long as it did, well, moreso fortunate that it didn't take any longer to rent it out.

The three months again, I mention. During those times I realized what a family without a mother must be like, or those real families who lost their mothers in the middle of their lives. Though I understood within time, people are all meant to adapt to their surroundings and make up for the loss (just like me and my pops have), it is never to say that her presence was never felt. No one can replace the love, care, affection and tenderness like a mother can give. I couldn't picture my life without her.

Now from here on out, with just more than a week left for me to go to Korea, 97.8% of my time will be dedicated to her. I just hope we both overcome this nasty cold we individually came down with to truly enjoy the last week before take off.

I love you umma, you are very well the food to my soul.