Rain Rain and More Rain

My wife tells me that the rainy season in the Kansai region of Japan will start soon. I disagree with her. I tell her that it already started more than a month ago. Why else would it rain four to five days a week? Apparently I am wrong. it is raining a lot, but the wet stuff falling now has nothing to do with the official rainy season. It's just a precursor!

I'm sitting at home early on a Monday morning enjoying a cup of coffee and doing something I normally never have a chance to do on a weekday morning. I'm writing a blog. What has caused this change in routine? My school has been closed for the day due to heavy rainfall warnings in the area. It is indeed raining cats, dogs and maybe some sheep. It was as well yesterday.

So, let's get to some news in Japan and Korea that I find a little interesting!

Police ask Kotomitsuki to explain baseball gambling report

TOKYO - The Metropolitan Police Department met with sumo wrestler Kotomitsuki on Saturday over a recent report in a weekly magazine that said he is in heavy debt from gambling related to professional baseball games, police officials said Saturday. Police asked the ozeki, the second-highest rank next to the grand champion yokozuna, for explanation about the contents of the article, according to the officials. Read more at Japan Today

This guy is an ozeki which is the second highest ranking fighter in sumo in Japan. He is a very high profile athlete in these parts. he also looks like a giant bird with massive breasts! I love sumo guys!



Check out this odd, yet fun story over at Japan Probe.

100 Animals in One Small Apartment


Of course everyone knows by now that those trouble making rascals, the North Koreans were responsible for the sinking of the South Korean corvette, the Choenan. They torpedoes it. They are true A-Holes....them North Koreans!

S. Korea takes ship sinking case to UN
The South Korean government, which accuses North Korea of sinking one of its warships, said Sunday it's taking its case against Pyongyang to the United Nations Security Council.

A senior government official in Seoul suggested the South will likely push for international agreement for the existing sanctions against the North to be strengthened. There are reports unilateral measures will also be announced.

"We are focusing on diplomatic means of punishment as we found out that existing sanctions and resolutions are not enough," the official told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. "It is time to decide whether we go over to another step."

An international team of investigators announced last week that the evidence pointed to a North Korean submarine having fired a homing torpedo on March 26, tearing apart the 1,200-tonne Cheonan and killing 46 sailors on board.
Read More at CBC.CA

A week it has been

I really have to take a little more time in the week and write some more things on this blog type thing. I suppose that i have ben spending most of my weekly internet time on my May 2010 project. What is that project you might ask? Well, I promised to post one video blog per day on my jlandkev You Tube channel. I have been maintaining that promise, but other things such as this blog get neglected as a result.

You can see today's jlandkev vlog right below. It is a nice little waling tour of the waterfront area of Kobe, Japan.



You can also check out some of the sights and sounds of today's Kobe Matsuri 神戸まつり right here on my BusanKevin channel:

Sunday Breakfast

I lived in South Korea for more than five years. I am now starting my third year in Japan. Asian culture is fascinating. Asian food is wonderful. At the end of the day though, I am a guy from Eastern Canada. Sometimes I need the creature comforts of home. These little things make the quality of living so much higher.

Sunday morning breakfast is a very important thing for me It is my portal to the world I come from and love. It makes me feel like I am back home in Canada. Every Sunday morning my wife and I sit down at the kitchen table and take a trip to the land of Canucks!



This is my Sunday morning. It often varies but at its heart, this is Sunday morning for me. Of course, a wonderful cup of brewed coffee is involved as well!

Sunny Weekends in Japan

The Golden Week holiday has now come and gone and all of us who were able to enjoy it may be shedding a small tear. Nonetheless, I went back to work on Thursday and had two enjoyable days. I would love to be on vacation all the time, but would have to become independently wealthy in order to do so. I also realize that in order to become independently wealthy, one must work extremely long and hard Hours. That of course would no allow me to be in a constant state of vacation!

My quest to become a man of sloth and leisure continues...

I thought you might like to take a peek at a few pictures I took along the waterfront in Kobe, Japan during my final day or R & R.


I took all of these pictures in Meriken Park along the Kobe waterfront. This is a memorial park to the Kobe Earthquake. The park was rebuilt after the quake, but this part was kept in order to be a reminder.






My daily blogs continue on my You Tube channel jlandkev. Last night my internet wasn't working so I uploaded my first mobile vid.

Finally, I have an iPhone.

Finally, I have become a little more "geekified"! I got my first iPhone today. This 32 gig iPhone 3GS has made me a happy little camper.



2 more days left in the Golden Week vacation.

Barbeque Season is upon us

It is been a dog's age and a half since I last updated this blog. I simply was simply busy with the everyday life of being a teacher, husband and soon to be father.

Things are great. It is the middle of the Golden Week holiday here in Japan. This is my third Golden Week in Jaan and willl probably be the most enjoyable.

Yesterday my wife and I were in Osaka. We were in the Shinsaibashi area and had a great little Indian lunch at a Persian restaurant called Hafez. I think it is pretty well known amongst the foreigner community in Osaka.

The food was great and the atmosphere was good as well. it was a beautiful sunny day in Osaka so everything just worked well.


More great food!


One great tradition many people have in Japan during the Golden Week holiday is to barbeque. Yesterday, after coming back from Osaka, my wife and I picked up a small portable charcoal grill. This afternoon we will have a barbeque in a local park with a few friends.

You can see the awesome eats we will have. I especially like the American Beef yakiniku set. It was under $10.00 which was a great price.


Although my interest in continuing my You Tube vlogging to the same extent as in the past was waning of late, I now have a renewed interest. I have been receiving a flood of new subscribers in the last week thanks to famous vlogger MisshannahMinx and now I am excited to produce more content. On my jlandkev channel (my alternative more bloggy channel) I have decided to post a blog everyday for the entire month of May.

Here is my first blog for May:


Expect a new one everyday.