50 Things That Make Me Happy

Lists are fun to make. Lists are fun to write. Lists are fun to write about. I decided to make another “List” blog.

What makes me happy? That is always a good question. Many things of course make me happy and they make me happy to different degrees. I thought it would be fun to just sit down and make a list (sometimes humorous) about the various things that make me happy! These are not all Japan-related and are in random order (the first 2 are my top priorities though).


HERE WE GO:

1. My wife and son (of course that’s #1)

2. My family back in Canada (I am tight with my family)

3. Pizza (here in Japan I make it from scratch at home)

4. Polo Burger (at a pub called Polo Dog in Kobe)

5. Running early in the morning.

6. Running late in the evening.

7. Milk chocolate

8. Kettle chips (love crispy potato chips…just salted)

9. Harvey’s hamburgers (only in Canada)

10. BBQing on the back deck (can’t do that in Japan)

11. Castles (all over the place here)

12. The cool and crazy things I see everyday in Japan

13. Cold beer on a hot summer day.

14. Cold beer on a crisp Fall day.

15. Yakisoba

16. My wife’s cooking

17. My son’s excitement when I walk in the door every evening from work.

18. Dreaming of having an adventure

19. Finishing a marathon

20. Blogging

21. Video blogging

22. How happy my students are to see me every morning

23. Hiking in the woods

24. Watching my son make new discoveries

25. Tim Horton’s breakfast sandwiched (yep…I am a proud Canadian)

26. Weekends

27. Cold beer on a cold Winter’s day

28. A nice red wine

29. Cooking

30. Starbucks

31. Coffee (anytime…anywhere)

32. Popcorn

33. The really genki (energetic) clerk at my local Lawsons (convenience store)

34. Apple products

35. The friends I’ve made through new media

36. The fact that my hobby is turning into a part-time job (sort of)

37. Writing

38. Teaching

39. Living in the beautiful city of Kobe

40. Being from Cape Breton

41. East Coast music (Canada)

42. Soon I will only have a 5 day work week

43. Q (the CBC radio show)

44. Cold beer on a wet Spring day

45. My iPhone

46. TWiT (This Week in Tech…the podcast)

47. Daydreams of buying a new camera and laptop (DSLR and a MacBook Pro)

48. The smell of a fresh pot of coffee in the morning!

49. Sleep

50. Vacation time to hang out with my family!


By the way, you have probably already heard that I was a panelist last week in the Seoul Podcast. It was cool to hear today that the episode I was featured in and my You Tube channel were mentioned on the Japan Talk podcast!

A really great information video for anyone interested in traveling to or moving to Korea:


You awesome folks can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

A beautiful day and 2000 subscribers

Another hot weekend has come and gone. I don't mean "hot" as in "sexy" and "vixen-like", but hot as in...."DAMN...I could fry an egg on the sidewalk in Kansai" hot! Today was a day for hanging around the homestead, getting a nice and sleek summer haircut and generally sitting on my balcony enjoying a cocktail or two.

I'm happy news, I reached 2000 subscribers this week on You Tube. I'm pleased. One might even say that I'm as pleased as punch, though I'm not exactly sure what being as pleased as punch entails. Is that fruit punch or some sort of spiked punch?



I wanted to share a few photos I took over the last week or two in the greater Kansai region!


I saw this sign as I was walking down a street in Akashi, Japan. it's a hair salon and what a name!!! "God Hands"!!! Is it simple arrogance or ignorance? How should I feel about getting a haircut here? Does this guarantee an amazing haircut???


Last Sunday, we had a small You Tube get together inKyoto. There were a few vloggers there. Myself, KansaiPJ, Spydermurphy, Zeroteku and Reynoldsair, the guy who organized it. A few other folks joined our group as well. We hung around in an izakaya (Japanese pub) and had an awesome time. There should be another small You Tube meetup sometime in July, but I'm still unsure of the date and location.


Here's a shot of the Kobe waterfront I took a few weeks ago. My wife and I saw the movie Angels and Demons and as we came outside of the theatre (you can tell I'm Canadian by my spelling of this word) we were greeted by this picturesque sight. It was so picturesque, that I was indeed forced to take a picture. Funny how that happens. You can see Kobe Tower (phallic-like red structure and behind it, the Kobe Maritime Museum). Kobe is indeed a pretty and one might even say, picturesque city!