Osechi Ryori (Japanese traditional New Years meal)

I just wanted you out there to take a look at what I had the good fortune of eating this afternoon for lunch. It being New Years Day, my mother-in-law bought my family a beautiful Osechi Ryori to welcome in 2013.

Take a look at some of the pictures I took:

This is a great New Years tradition. New Years in Japan is the biggest holiday of the year. I suppose the importance of it would be comparable to Christmas in Canada or Thanksgiving in America.

You can follow me on Twitter @jlandkev.

Pizza in Japan

There are many things I love in life. I love my family. I love running. I love Canada, the country I am from. I love living abroad and the adventures I have in doing so. I also love pizza.

Pizza is food from the Gods in my opinion. It is the perfect mix of all major food groups. I get Grains, Dairy, Veggies and Meat all in one wonderful package.

I have been a fan of pizza my entire life. A great take out pizza is something to cherish, but even more is a great homemade pizza. Luckily, my parents are amazing cooks and growing up I have th fondest memories of my father's "from scratch" pizzas. They were delicious beyond description and now, as I live in Asia, I appreciate them even more.

I have lived in Asia for almost 10 years now. I lived in Korea for more than 5 years and there, pizza is everywhere. Pizza is common, it is cheap and to be honest, doesn't taste very good. Most places that sell pizza basically serve ketchup, a few slices of pepperoni and very little cheese on a slab of cardboard.

In Japan, pizza is really expensive and doesn't taste very good. ALSO, the sizes are really small.

Solution.....make your own from scracth. That's what I do. here is a quick vid of a pizza I made last weekend. An actual recipe/tutorial video will come soon.

Here is a great video that explains what you get in Japan when you order take out/delivery pizza.

Arghh...I can't eat that!

As many of you know, I am currently working on my first book. "Teaching in Asia: Tales and the real deal." will be released as an eBook later this year. It will be a great resource or anyone who is interested in moving to South Korea or japan to teach. It is practical advice from a certified elementary school teacher someone who has lived and worked in both countries (that's me by the way). It will be a mix of entertaining and useful stories as well as advice on how to find a job, prepare for your move and successfully adapt to the culture.

The best way to find out about the book, my progress putting it together and release information, keep an eye on my Facebook page. I will be setting up a website for the book just before the release.

I wanted to give you guys a little taste of what I am up to. This is a

small section form one of the chapters in the book. "Argh...I can't eat that!" is part of the Culture Shock chapter.

Argh…I can’t eat that

You are now in a very different culture and with the different culture come new culinary experiences. The food typically eaten on a daily basis by Korean or Japanese people is obviously quite a bit different from what a typical Canadian, American, Australian, etc. might eat. You are going to have to try your best to get used to it because when you are with your Korean or Japanese friends, students or going to most restaurants, that’s what you will be eating.

To be honest, when I first landed in Korea in 2002, I was anyt

hing but an adventurous eater. I grew up in Eastern Canada and although had a family that was open to new food experiences, I personally wasn’t. As a young man, I was more of a Subway sandwich and pizza sort of guy and freely admit that I feared the unknown when it came to eating.

When I arrived in Korea, I knew nothing about Korean food. I suppose most people who go to Korea to teach find themselves in a similar situation. Luckily, I really enjoyed most of the new dishes introduced to me. I became a big fan of the food Korea had to offer. Generally, Korean food is spicy. A main spice used in many dishes is “gochu” which is a red hot pepper. Korean food also consists of a lot of vegetables. It’s definitely healthy, but for some, it can be a little too much. Some people don’t like the strong smell of the garlic and sesame oil while others tend to find it too spicy. I have met a few teachers in my time that had a history of stomach ulcers or were in general just sensitive and couldn’t handle the “heat” of Korean food.

Again, I took to it pretty quickly and enjoyed it. My advice to those out there who have never had Korean food and are coming to Korea is to be open-minded. You never know what something is like until you try it. Korean food is extremely healthy and packed full of flavor. It is also extremely affordable if not down right cheap to dine out at most restaurants in Korea. Many teachers will prefer to eat out most nights of the week as opposed to cooking at home because it can actually be cheaper to do so.

Japan also has some great food and aside from sushi and sashimi, I had basically no knowledge of the cuisine before I met my wife several years ago. Now I am absolutely in love with Japanese food. There was one stumbling block for me though, seafood. While growing up I never liked fish and since it is a major element of Japanese food, had to really try hard and learn to like it. Luckily I have, with the exception of eel.

Like Korean food, Japanese cuisine contains far more vegetables and a variety of them than a typical Western dish. I suppose what I love the most about Japanese food is the fact that in one typical meal you will find so many flavors on your plate.

Now eating out in Japan sadly isn’t as affordable as in Korea, but it’s always worthwhile. Since coming to Japan, I tend to eat most meals at home, but since my wife is Japanese, the vast majority of them are Japanese food.

Most people will enjoy the local “eats” when they come to Japan and Korea, but some may not. Again, my advice is just to give things a try. Even if a “mysterious” dish doesn’t look appealing, it may be extremely delicious.

If for some reason you just can’t wrap your plate or stomach around some of the local dishes, if you live in a larger city, there are plenty of restaurants that would probably cater to your needs. In Japan, there are Italian and Indian restaurants on almost every corner as well as fast food restaurants and pubs that serve “American” style food.

The same goes in Korea as well. You can find McDonald’s and Starbucks almost everywhere and family restaurants such as Bennigan’s and TGI Friday’s are very popular, although expensive. Many large supermarkets carry a variety of foreign food products and there are even specialty shops that deal specifically in food from abroad.

If you aren’t in a major urban area you are probably going to be out of luck when it comes to finding comfort food from home. You may just have to suck it up and learn to like what’s around you. To be honest, it’s not very hard!

Some kimchi, one of Korea's most famous dishes.

Remember to follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Japanese on Drugs?

Recently I’ve started video blogging again after a hiatus of a few months. Family life, work and my ultra marathon training made life very busy and I simply no longer had time to blog. As life seems to ease up a little, I have a little more time.

I’ve made my written blog (what you are reading now) a priority, as my writing skills need improvement. One of the downsides of teaching young children for several years is my loss of writing ability. I also have a larger writing project on the go and simply want to write as much as possible.

Today, a wonderful mid-week day off, I decided (while both my wife and son were taking a nap), to go back to my old video blogging roots and shoot a short and fun video.

Here it is:


Japanese on Drugs?

Going in the Food Vlogging Direction

I’ve decided to become narrower in scope these days. I’m not talking about every aspect of my life. I’m talking about vlogging.

I have always known a few things that would probably bring a lot more traffic to my You Tube channel, but have never gone in that direction. I suppose I will focus a lot more on bringing a lot more people what they are looking for. I have always known that most of my most popular and several of my viral videos have been food videos. People love food! People also really want to see food from other countries. My food videos appeal to a much broader spectrum of people than my story vids do. I know that. I also know that if I made my channel food specific, I’d probably achieve a lot more success. So, that’s what I’m going to do.
I recently started a series of videos called, “Japanese Eats.” In these videos I plan to show a very wide variety of food you can find in Japan. Some will be traditional, others new.

Now, I’m not much of a cook and to be honest, my wife and I don’t go out to restaurants very often. I do however buy food at supermarkets and convenience stores. My wife is also an amazing cook and great resource for sharing Japanese cuisine!

So, from now on, my BusanKevin You Tube channel will be primarily for food video. Don’t worry though. For those of you who enjoy the randomness of the channel (former randomness), I do have another channel called “jlandkev.” That’s where you can go to watch story videos and check out the things I see on a daily business living here in Japan.

Here are the fist two installments of my Japan Eats series:




I think it's going to be a lot of fun for both myself and viewers to see the wide variety of cool, popular and off the wall food you can eat in Japan!

Meat Pie and Inarizushi 稲荷寿司

I can’t make all of my posts dark and dreary. I also can’t make them all angry because I am basically a very happy guy!

This past Thursday was Saint Patrick’s Day and I, being of Irish-Canadian descent, had to do something about it. With a new baby at home, I wasn’t really up to going out for St. Paddy’s this year, but I made a steak and Guinness pie at home. I did the same last year as well. I suppose it is becoming a tradition in my house. I of course enjoyed wit with several can of Guinness as well!

Take a look at my creation (served with mashed potatoes as well):











All pictures of my Steak and Guinness pie process were taken with the iPhone app, Instagram.


I also uploaded another in a new series of Japanese food videos called Japan Eats. I have long known that my most popular videos on You Tube tend to be food related. I also decided I need to make a lot more of them!

Unnecessary Hoarding Far Away from Danger

I've heard people talking about how folks in Tokyo and other areas close to the disaster zone in Japan are beginning to hoard items such as instant noodles, rice, bottled water and toilet paper. I've even watched videos taken by You Tube video blogger "softypapa" in Shizuoka of the same behavior.

I have to admit that I was a little surprised tonight though when my wife came back from our local supermarket (we actually have 2 small local supermarkets) and told me that all the rice, instant noodles and bottled water were sold out. I decided to go for a walk this evening and check out the state of affairs at the other local market. I was REALLY shocked to find the same thing.

It looks as if some people are beginning to panic buy. Kobe is located more than 800 kilometers from the nuclear disaster area in Fukushima. We are a very safe place. Just this afternoon I found out that the cities of Osaka and Kobe are supplying free housing to refugees from the Fukushima/Miyagi/Iwate regions.

Why are people beginning to hoard here? A few reasons I suppose.

First of all, Japanese people don't tend to shop as many of us, especially more rural living people, in Canada might. Growing up, my family lived quite far from a supermarket. Although we had some small shops in town, we would load up once every weekend and drive from Louisbourg to Sydney, about 40 kilometers away. We would fill the entire trunk of the car with groceries to stock our refrigerator and pantry. People in Japan simply don't shop that way. They don't have pantries. They have so many supermarkets and 24 hour convenience stores that they tend to shop as they need it.

Also when there are rumours that there may be food shortages (not an issue here) they panic. It's that simple. they are buying large amounts of unnecessary items!

Here is a video I discreetly took this evening with my phone at my local Daiei supermarket in Kobe, Japan:

Sunburned Shoulders and the Hanoi Hilton – Hanoi, Vietnam

Here we go, another Retro Blog. I wrote this one in 2003:

Sunburned Shoulders and the Hanoi Hilton – Hanoi, Vietnam
by Kevin O'Shea

It was my eighth and unfortunately last day in Vietnam. Within 24 hours, I would board a plane and soon have to face the reality of work. My whirlwind visit to Northern Vietnam had been an exciting and memorable one, but my final day in the capital city of Hanoi was more than I ever could have asked for.

I had visited Vietnam during my brief summer vacation. I was aware of the fact that the end of July was the height of the rainy season there, however, it made no difference to me. Personally, Vietnam was one of those mystical places that reached out to me. For whatever reasons, the lack of throngs of tourists, the fact that it has yet to be completely ravaged by globalization or the fact that it is just so beautiful, I simply had to see it. With a new job in Korea, I found myself in a position that made it financially and geographically possible to just “pop on down” for a short vacation.

I had begun planning and researching my trip to Vietnam several months earlier. I was very excited about the prospects of going somewhere so “cool.” It was to be a solo trip, but as things go, the plan changed. It began with one coworker asking if he could join me and in the end, there were five of us. This presented both positive and negative experiences, but anyone who has ever traveled in a group knows, “that’s the way it works.”

To begin with, there is no possible way that someone can absorb a country in eight days. No matter how small a country is geographically, there are simply too many experiences to have, too many people to meet and too many moments to process. For those reasons I had planned to target a small area of Northern Vietnam. I had eight days to see three major areas and the rest of Vietnam would have to wait until another visit.

This trip had more planning than most I make. I usually adopt a “fly by the seat of my pants” approach, but with limited time, I hoped to get the most out of it.

We arrived in Hanoi in early afternoon and decided to only stay the night. Early the following morning we were off to the “jaw-dropping” UNESCO world heritage site, Halong Bay, where more than 3000 magnificent islands jut out of the water in a dream-like way. From there, we trucked it back to Hanoi. We then hopped a train to the northerly elevations and hill-tribes of Sapa, a former hill station in the days of French Indochina. After a few more awe-inspiring days in the lush north, we would make the journey back to Hanoi.

With a population of roughly three and a half million people, Hanoi is the second-largest city in Vietnam and is home to the country’s Communist government. Hanoi sits only 200 kilometers from China. Once entering the city, the French colonial influence upon everything from architecture to cuisine was immediately apparent. Streets are lined with palm trees and dilapidated concrete buildings, painted in a rainbow of pastel shades. Hordes of people, cars and motorcycles seemed to coexist in a form of organized chaos. The “organized” part of this chaos quickly seems to disappear once you step from your taxi and are on foot attempting to cross the street.

We had all stayed at a guesthouse in the Old Quarter our first night in the city. The staff was friendly and quite entertaining, so we decided to go back. That evening we took one of the more helpful staff members to eat at a lovely little restaurant a few streets away.

We had one full day and night left in Hanoi. Until this point, we remained a group. We had ventured to Halong Bay together and then again on to Sapa. With one day left, we all wanted to do different things. Bernard and Andrew wanted to visit a Buddhist grotto several hours outside of town. Steve wanted to cruise around the city on a motorcycle. J.D. and I decided that we wanted to explore the Hanoi’s Old Quarter and see what it had to offer.

We woke up at dawn, which is always a good idea when traveling. It allows you to squeeze as much out of the day as you possibly can. The tooth-turning, lip-curling, high-octane coffee so common to Vietnam is another fabulous way to start the day. After a few mugs of the caffeine-enriched beverage and a fresh baguette, J.D. and I were off to wander the streets. We planned to hit several museums that day, but it was far too early for anything to be open. We explored the alleyways, observing women selling fruit, vegetables, coal and almost anything else you can imagine.

The shops were just beginning to open. It was still relatively cool during these early morning hours, but what started as a crisp feeling in the air began to change as the morning progressed. The sun was becoming more intense and the streets began to fill with a deluge of motorcycles spewing toxic clouds of black exhaust. We popped in out of shops as we made our way to the Hoa Lo Prison Museum. Hoa Lo Prison was dubiously named the “Hanoi Hilton” by American pilots and officers who were held there as POW’S during the Vietnam War. Men such as American Senator John McCain languished there for years. Only a small portion of the prison remains, but it makes a strong impact nonetheless.

As we walked out of remains of Hoa Lo Prison, we started up Hai Ba Trung towards the Temple of Literature. Making our way towards the temple, I could feel the intensity of the sun on my arms. I was wearing a tank top and had forgotten my sun block at the guesthouse, a cocktail for trouble. It was now well above 40°C, and I felt as if my arms had been laid across a hotplate. Within 20 minutes we were at the temple, where I was relieved to find some shade and a cold bottle of water.

We soon retreated to the sanctity of a pub for a bite to eat and a couple of much-deserved Tiger beers. It wasn’t long before we were pounding the pavement again, weaving our way through a series of narrow side streets, searching for Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and the Hanoi Citadel area.

As we entered the embassy district on the outskirts of the Hanoi Citadel area, the streets began to widen and the buildings appeared more upscale. The sun was intense as we entered the giant square in front of the Mausoleum. The size of square was impressive, and I can only imagine the tens of thousands of soldiers who have paraded through it over the years. Giant red flags emblazoned with a lone yellow star flapped ominously overhead, while soldiers with AK 47s watched us quizzically. At one point, in my naivete, I raised my camera to snap a photo of an impressive-looking white mansion. Soldiers quickly ran towards me, waving their arms frantically. I didn’t take the picture.

We wandered through this area for some time, but decided it was time to make our way back to the Old Quarter. My arms were officially burned to a crisp. We plodded along, shopping and sipping on a few beers as the afternoon soon faded into twilight.

It was dinnertime, and J.D. and I decided to end the day with a small parade of Tiger beer. We decided to sit at a lovely little restaurant on the edge of Hoan Kiem Lake. The Old Quarter looked beautiful at dusk. Everything seemed to have a bluish hue about it as the sky grew darker. It seemed like a fitting end to my first trip to South East Asia.

My eight days in North Vietnam had been wonderful. They were filled with islands, boats, trekking, good people, great food, a typhoon and a terribly sunburned pair of arms. I can’t wait to go back to Vietnam.



I wrote this story in 2003 after my 2002 summer vacation to Northern Vietnam.

You can follow me on TWITTER: @jlandkev

Here is the original link to the story.


Here is a video i threw up on my "jlandkev" You Tube channel this morning. The biggest beans you've ever seen!

Why Living Abroad Can Be So Great

There are definitely many benefits to living in ones’ native country, but there are also many benefits to living abroad (depends on the country of course). Learning about a new language and culture can be wonderful for a person’s personal growth. Opening your mind to new types of food and drink and the importance they have in another culture can be an amazing experience.

I think that the greatest thing about living in a different country for me is the fact that everything seems so interesting. This may simply be because of the fact that I am an incredibly curious and sometimes child-like (I find a great deal of wonderment in simple everyday things) kind of guy. A simple, quiet nighttime walk down a street in Japan leaves me excited. Everywhere I go; I’m packing at least one or two cameras because I always feel that there is something exciting that’s worth documenting.

I can clearly remember the first night I landed in Asia in February of 2002. I flew into Incheon International Airport in South Korea. The owner of the school that had hired me, picked me up at the airport and drove me to a “strange” Korean love motel where I dropped off my bags. I was then taken to a great galbi (yakiniku or Korean bbq) restaurant where I had to sit on the floor and eat for the first time in my life. I nervously and excitedly met my future coworkers and took in the thrill of a drastically new culture for the first time. Everyone spoke to me in a friendly way and I felt more energized and nervous than I could remember. I was then dropped off at my hotel and told that I would be picked up the next morning.

I will always remember the wonderment I had as I decided to go for a walk. I bought a bottle of beer at the convenience store located across the road from the love motel and wandered into a large local park. I sat down, drank my beer and thought to myself, “The adventure now begins.”

Almost nine years later, I am still in Asia. I’m now in Japan. I’m older and certainly wiser, but I have to admit that I am still, to an extent, filled with a level of wonderment! Although, these days I have been pining for home a lot more than usual, I still find the fact that I live in Asia….”cool!”

Check out a few random photos from the previous year in Japan!


A fireboat located close to my house on Port Island. I have never seen this boat in action, but it would be cool!


The small park in Sannomiya (behind the JR Sannomiya Station, know as Oppai-yama akaBreast Mountain) is a place where many indie bands like to gather and promote themselves in the warmer weather.




We Love Kobe!


Like most cities in Japan or anywhere in the world, Kobe looks great. Although I think I love the slow paced life of smaller towns more than big cities, I always love the bright lights of the big city at night.

New Year's Meal Video

A few weeks ago I made a post about the Oscechi ryori ( New Year's meal in Japan) that my inlaws gave my wife and I. I took footage the same day and then promptly forgot I took it. While searching for something else on my computer the other night, I found it. I decided to put this video together.

Prepare to look at some REALLY delicious Japanese food!

More wonderful Japanese food

As I mentioned in my previous post, my family gave my wife and I some Osechi-ryōri 御節料理 or お節料理 to take home with us. My mother-in-law ordered it from the Sheraton Hotel in Osaka. It was amazing. You can see for yourself!

Christmas Food Video

Tis the season for trees, lights, snow, snow days, turkey, laying on the sofa with a beer, eggnog, rum, gifts and a big fat man in red! That's right, the festival holiday known as Christmas is quickly approaching. It will be here in exactly ten days. In honour of this wonderful and epic holiday, I decided to spread myself even thinner and put together a video about Christmas food. I posed the question to folks who enjoy my video-blog, "What is your favorite Christmas food or beverage?" I wanted to know about people's comfort food. Many of the things I consider "comfort foods" are somewhat difficult to get my hands on in Japan. I can get turkey, but it is often hard to eat an entire turkey with only three people in your family (one having yet to grow teeth).

Here is my 2010 Christmas Collaboration video for You Tube. I asked anyone to submit a video and about 55 people did so. It was somewhat of a logistical nightmare to put together, but I did it for the second year in a row. Although it consumes many hours of my already frantic life, I think it brings a little bit of happiness to many out there. Even if it makes someone smile, it was worth making (wow! That was very cheesy...but true!).


One of the awesome things about doing this sort of project is the diversity of the people. I had videos sent to me from here in Japan, South Korea, Canada, United States, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, England, Australia, Panama, etc.


I had the chance to play Mr. Mom today. I took my son to IKEA where I picked up a few more decorations for our Christmas tree as well as a few consumable Christmas treats. I grabbed a few Swedish Christmas beers which are similar to a red ale as well as a bottle of Glogg. That is popular in Scandanavia. It is basically mulled wine.


Here is the Swedish beer I picked up in the IKEA food section. At 349¥ a can, it is expensive, but a rare treat.


Here is the bottle of Glogg I bought. It cost 799¥ and has 12% alcohol, similar to a regular red wine. Again, Glogg is mulled wine.

I'm now on vacation for the next few weeks. Time to run a lot, enjoy good food and hang out with my little whipper-snapper!

I Love You Jimmy Dean

Not to be confused with James Dean of "Rebel Without a Cause" fame, Jimmy Dean is a brand of American sausages. I came across these awesome little fellas a few weeks ago at my local supermarket in Kobe (Port Island Daiei) and stocked up. I bought four or five packs and threw them in my freezer. They are so delicious and totally take me back home in a manner of speaking!


It's quite easy to buy foreign food in this part of Japan. there are so many expats living in the area and Japanese people with an interest in all things foreign that there are many shops that see this sort of thing. I suppose I am pretty lucky for that.

When I first arrived in Asia in early February 2002, I lived in a small city north of Seoul in Korea. When I lived there I was happy about the fact that I could buy ketchup in Korea. As far as other foreign foods went, I was pretty much out of luck. My friends and I would occasionally make the trek into Seoul and the foreign ghetto area, Itaewon. There was a place called Gel's Deli (probably spelled that wrong), which is now long gone(I think). That's where we would buy our very overpriced foreign treats. Now I've heard that there is a much more readily available stock of foreign food goods throughout Korea.

To be honest, I rarely buy foreign food in Japan. I love Japanese food and my wife and I normally cook all of our meals at home. It is great however, to have the option if I want it.

Korean Cuisine at ZenKimchi

I suppose I normally save "shout-outs" for videos on You Tube (and I will do this shout out later in video form), but I wanted to let you guys know about a wonderful website. Now of course I live and work in Japan. I really love Japan as well as the food and culture. The people rock as well!

If you have been following my blog or You Tube (Busan Kevin) or (jlandkev) channels for some time you will also know I lived in South Korea for more than five years. Korea was great too. Comparing the two countries is like comparing apples and oranges though and to be honest, I normally steer very clear from comparing them anyway! There were many things I liked about Korea. The food, the inexpensive transportation and of course the fact that I met my wife (she is Japanese) there as well!

I am a huge....HUGE....fan of Korean food. This love for Korean grub is something my wife and I have in common. Unfortunately, unless you can get to Korea town in Osaka, Korean restaurants in Japan are a bloody fortune to eat at!



For all of you who live anywhere and have an interest in Korean culture and food, I want you to take a long look at the site zenkimchi.com. This site was started by Joe McPherson several years ago and has grown into the premier Korean food website out there. Joe has become somewhat of an expert on Korean cuisine and a major force in promoting it outside of Korea. He now even has a team of writers creating content about Korean food in America and elsewhere.

The Zen Kimchi website has grown from a personal blog about Korea to THE place to go for information about where to eat Korean food and about Korean food itself.


The site contains the ZenKimchi Food Journal. This has news, information about different food and a lot more. My suggestion; take a few house and just get lost in the site. There is so much to explore!



An example of some of the awesome information contained in the Food Journal section is Korean Food 101.



The ZenKimchi Korean Dining Guide is exactly what you think it is; lots of information about restaurants that serve great Korean cuisine.



ZenKimchi Adventures is Joe's blog about life in Korea and life as a Korean food writer/podcaster.



You also can't forget Joe's podcast, the Seoul Podcast. With more than 100 episodes in their catalogue, this is the ideal podcast for English teachers in Korea or aspiring English teachers. I suppose it is also great for anyone with an interest in current affairs in Korea as well.


Simply put, if you are interested in Asia and specifically Asian food, this is a great site to spend some time on. If you live in South Korea or in Japan and plan to travel there, you need to check it out. The site just keeps getting better everyday and the amount of content is constantly growing.

A new look

As of this weekend, when episode 6 of Looks Like Canada (my podcast) comes out, there will be new album art.


Hope you like it!

Looks Like Canada Episode Two is worth a listen

Hey folks. Hope everyone is well out there. Kobe is hot. Kobe is very hot. When I say hot, I don't mean sexy hot. I mean, sweat your ass off hot. This summer is especially muggy and nasty! The cicadas are ear-piercing, the sweat towels are out in full force and every Japanese woman is packin their parasol!

I just wanted everyone to know that episode two of "Looks Like Canada" is online.

My new podcast takes a look at the AMAZING Canadian food....poutine!

Check out the latest episode of my podcast here!


Thanks a bunch folks.

Expect another great You Tube video coming this weekend. I accidentally stumbled across a custom motorcycle show last weekend while out for a walk. I filmed some of it with my iPhone.

Looks Like Canada: the Podcast

It is finally up and online. My latest project and one I will continue post-Japan (not leaving soon).


Looks Like Canada is a podcast about all things Canadian. It will be about Canadian history, food and culture. Looks Like Canada will be hosted by myself and sometimes I may conduct interviews or have guests. I will upload a new episode weekly and once the summer is over, I will upload on a strict schedule (of course with a newborn at home now it is hard to follow any schedule!).



Episode One is about the Canadian running icon, Johnny Miles. You can download the show or listen to it in your browser with Quicktime.

Looks Like Canada will be up on the iTunes store soon I hope.

Take car and check out my latest media project.

Things coming together

Hello one and all. Things in Kobe, Japan are sweaty and hot. That's right! We are in the midst of a heat wave here in japan and apparently it has already sent many folks to the hospital and a few to the grave!

As for good ole Kevin, i am busy with my newborn son. My little fella was born almost two weeks ago at Kobe General Hospital. he is very handsome, healthy and happy. He is also quite a handful for my wife and I! I suppose that is normal for any newborn baby and two first-time parents. It is a learning process that books and websites didn't prepare me for. I am learning though and enjoying it. I am also appreciating how much of a commodity time is. It is hard to get work done on my many media projects, but I am finding the time somehow.

I talk about that in my latest little video blog.

The project I am trying to get up and moving is something that I have been wanting to pursue for several years. I have put together a podcast. I put a lot of thought into the topic and I wanted it to be something I could do for a long time. I also wanted to create a podcast that would be relevant to me long after I had left Japan and moved either back to Canada or elsewhere.

This year marks more than eight years living abroad for me in Asia. With so much time living in other countries and being surrounded by other cultures, it has made me long for, appreciate and want to learn more about my own country. That's why my podcast will be about Canadian history, culture and food. No matter where I am in the world, I know that the topics will remain relevant to me!

The first episode is in the can and episode two will be finished this weekend. the website is almost up and running (it will be a constant work in progress though). I have also realized that I need to invest in a decent microphone, but I will do that in time and if people show an interest in the show!

Things will go live this weekend I hope, but having a newborn baby can often cause sudden changes to schedule!

When the podcast does go up, I will inform you all here, on Twitter and You Tube!

Let's Eat Snacks

Let's eat Japanese snacks. Many folks who are interested in Japan based blogs and vlogs are more than familiar with the standard food test blog. I wanted everyone to check this one out because it is a little different. This Japanese snack review is done by a well-known and AWESOME Korea-based vlogger, "qiranger."

Kansai Eats

I have a new blog. Kansai Eats is %100 dedicated to food. It is about restaurants here in japan as well as cooking and shopping.



Check it out here!