Walking and Hiking Tours of Busan

TRAVELS FROM NORTH AMERICA BACK TO SINGAPORE We got to the Burlington airport bright and early.  The security was confused about the Epsom Salts I had in my carry on (it was too heavy for my checked baggage, as I had to take ten pounds out, or pay 50$).   They scanned it 4 times, did a drug and bomb search on it, along with my Kindle and toothbrush, LOL.  I eventually got them through. When I checked in at JFK, Emirates  gave me a window seat, so I changed the JFK-DUBAI portion to an aisle seat, but they could not help me with the Dubai-Spore portion. The people sitting next to me are going to be annoyed with a huge guy taking up 1 and a 1/2 seats, LOL.  I had reserved them in the aisle in Sept., but looks like I got bumped, again, as did Carol.  Next time, cheapie Charlie airlines, all the way!! I was able to use my Korean Air Skymiles on the flight, which is good, because they never expire.  I checked my bag at JFK...

Hi, It's been a while since I emailed you.  Thought I should take some time to tell you about our life here. After a great break, where we went to Taiwan and Japan, we are now back in Singapore.  Carol has a boss who is more organized and professional so her workload has been reduced.  Plus, she does not have a vice principle, so there is one less person to create clutter. Carol is now the social committee leader at her school (any surprise?).  The girls get together every Friday for small bites and cocktails at the various pubs in our neighborhood. I usually go later, so I can check out a new place.  Then Raul, Pammy's boyfriend comes, and he and I will have a drink at the hawker's (food court).  Pammy works with Carol.  Carol's students are the same as last year, so it has been a smooth transition for both teachers and students. As for myself, I am studying full time at the National Institute of Education (NIE) on the Nanyang Technologica...

I thought at first, no, I would not put this up here, but then, how could any travel blog be complete without Yoshi.  I met him in 2003, while backpacking in Northern Thailand, Pai to be exact.  We met up again in Bangkok, The Philippines, and Taiwan.  This is his last story. Man, I can feel Yoshi flowing through me right now.  I've got goose bumps as I write this like I've never had before.  I am not a religious guy, but whoa, there must be something in the afterlife... Yoshi is gone...  You can read more in the facebook group link I pasted below. Yoshi drowned in Vang Vieng while "tubing" on Aug. 2, 2011.  For those of us who have never been to Laos, tubing is riding in an inner tube down the river and having fun at different restaurants and bars in the river.  Some people jump off ropes like Tarzan or kayak the river.  I kayaked the river while there in 2003. I still have photos of him on my memory card...

Hi guys, After months of searching, Carol and I finally found jobs at Etonhouse International and Pre-school in  Singapore .  Here are the links, if you are interested (see below).  Carol will be a kindergarten teacher, while I will be a class teacher.  I don't know which grade, yet (this is not ESL, but a normal primary homeroom teaching post).  We really wanted to stay in Ottawa, more than you'll ever know, but money is important.  It is really hard for me to work in Canada without a Bachelor of Education.  This degree is a requirement for getting certification in Canadian provinces and territories.   The plan is to either earn a double major bachelor in geography and religion or  BA Edu. via distance learning (online) while we are in  Singapore . The latter choice would be difficult, as most of the course are not offered online and requires a practicum component, but I am still searching.  If I go for ...

What's new with you guys?? On  Thursday , we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by having coffee at The Dharmawangsa Hotel, for 5 star prices, dining, ambiance, and 0 star service.    http://www.the-dharmawangsa.com/ .  As a result of the service, we decided to go to Ham Ji Bak Executive Korean restaurant instead for a dinner of sam gup sal (Pork Bacon) and dawayne Jang Gee Gay (Miso bean paste soup) and side dishes. http://www.urbanesia.com/profile/ham-ji-bak/photo/ On  Friday , we went to the Taiwanese Embassy, so I could apply for a visa, which was a bit of a drama, but rewarded ourselves with  Sizzler's salad bar for lunch (I also skipped breakfast in preparation for this!!).  They have a painting of a white Michael Jordan with brown hair there.  Then Carol went to her student's mom's (SM) house to watch another SM play the violin.  This SM is famous in Italy, whose concerts generally require people to pay ov...

I know that this email (blog) is quite long, but I have not emailed you for a long time. Reading/writing this helps us feel as though we still have a connection. Enjoy the good read. :-) How are things going at work and home, Glenn?  How's church and the family, Brian? How is the house coming along, Mom and Jim? Neil, how goes it in Ottawa? Dad, how is volunteering going? Sharon, what's new with Stowe and Montreal friends? Erin, any plans for Xmas? How are the girls? Maybe you can read this to Norah or Leah. Carol and I are basically trying to start off here by making a good impression at work and making our apartment look nice and comfortable.  We are homebodies (yes, we are 35 and 38, it's not 2001 anymore), so that's why we got the iPhone-4 landline, Internet cable TV package. We also went to a second hand thrift shop to buy a PC desk/chair, bed (design issue, not used), lamp, dresser, make-up burrow with mirror, lamp table, and shelves. ...

We had a good time in the 1st half of our trip to Bali with Deb, Sung-Sook, Diane, and her son, Didier.  We were cleansed and blessed by a spiritual leader at a Hindu Temple Ceremony.  They also gave us holy water from the 108 different Hindu Temples in Bali, to spread/sprinkle on our guesthouse, when we have our opening ceremony there later in early 2011.  We had good food at some of Bali's more famous eateries, such as Ku De Ta, Hu 'U, Zanzibar, Made's Cafe (pronounced Ma-Day), Blue Canyon Coffee (where we had coffee with Rod), Italian, Japanese, just to name a few. Diane is a wealth of information on Bali, so we just followed her.  We also met Sam and Andrea on their motorbike on the way back to their villa from surfing.  Our villa in Seminyak had four bedrooms, each one costing 40$, with daily breakfast, including fresh daily baked German bread.  We walked on the beach for a couple of hours, and we ate seafood on the beach in Jimbaran and spent part o...