The Land of the Rising Sun

Before arriving in Japan I had already spent $560 on a 21 day Japan Rail pass, which is nearly 80% of what I spent during an entire month in Laos.  To say I fear going bankrupt in Japan is an understatement.  I flew into Osaka and immediately set out to find a 7/11, because their ATMs accept foreign cards, unlike the ones at the airport.  After loading up on cash, I somehow stumbled into the red light district, making it the third country in the past four that I've accomplished that feat within my first hour of exploring; It's like a super power, apparently GigaLowe's are drawn to whores.   

The district is modeled after Amsterdam, with young women in windows dressed up like nurses, cowgirls, and any other slutty outfit you can think of that puts their ass...ets on display, while an older woman sitting nearby acts as her pimp.  Not gonna lie, they were the hottest girls I've ever seen.  Seriously, picture the sexiest woman you've ever seen, if she's not already Asian, make her Asian.  Then imagine 400 women hotter than her, being spread out in every direction.  Luckily the good looking girls aren't restricted to just the red light district, the women in Japan...woo hoo!  So many gorgeous women here and, on the whole, they age a lot better than the women in other countries I've visited (no offense, #RespectForWomen).  

Osaka was way different than what I expected, for instance a lot of taxi drivers wear bow ties, there are slot machine gambling halls lining alleyways, and gigantic underground shopping districts.  Heck, you can even get a tailored suit in the subway!  Of course, no sightseeing trip is complete without staggering past the legendary Japanese vending machines, which are stocked with beer, cigarettes, and saki!  The easiest way to get around is definitely the subway, which has lines running everywhere.  In order to purchase a ticket, you have to scan a pricing sheet and then purchase your ticket not based on destination, but on price.  I'm pretty sure it took me seven minutes to buy my first ticket.  Japan is absolutely amazing;  It was my destiny to come here, I felt it as soon as I started to explore.  I wasn't born here, but maybe I will be reborn here.

Saki, beer, shot glasses.  With booze and cigarette vending machines on every corner, how do Japanese kids stay out of trouble?

Each town seems to have their own special sewer covers

I spent my first full day in Japan wandering the shopping districts and trying to ease my way into the pricing.  For lunch I found a place with 5 dollar pizzas and an English menu, but the pizzas all had Italian names and no ingredient listed, so I just chose one I'd never heard of.  Turns out, I ordered a pizza that contained three ingredients: crust, sauce, sardines...no cheese.  Luckily I'm used to eating weird stuff, so I was able to overcome the smell of rotting fish and force it down.  In all fairness, it wasn't terrible, and being topped with over 500 sardines, it was probably a bargain.  The cheap pizza helped me accept the costs of riding the subway, $2.40 to go three stops, I ain't made of money.

My dinner was inevitably going to be better than my lunch, so I decided to just go for it and get something Japanese.  How does beef tendon simmered in miso sound?  I had absolutely no clue what to expect, but it was fucking delicious.  The tendon broke apart more easily than the beef in Carl Weather's stew and the miso had an incredible amount of flavor.  It was a reminder of why I gamble when I order food.  Sure you might get something that you don't like, but then again you might miss out on something amazing by ordering the same boring stuff over and over.  Live a little! For my midnight snack I got a random bun from Family Mart that somehow tasted exactly like Chef Boyardee Ravioli, which is absolutely a good thing.  I never used to think about it before, but I'm so thankful I have no allergies or food restrictions and can try all of these random things.  I never used to be grateful for anything, I'd just be pissed off if I couldn't do whatever I wanted.  Maybe I'm finally growing up :)....a little

For the first time in over a year, I have that Machu Picchu feeling

I usually prefer the wild to cities, but this is one concrete jungle I'm at peace with

Kyoto was the next stop on my journey, so I activated my Japan Rail Pass and went to temple town;  There must be thousands of them there.  The lady at my hostel was super friendly and as soon as I arrived she opened up a map and started giving me detailed instructions on how to get to each of the main temples.  This is why I decided to never purchase a Lonely Planet book ever again, they're unnecessary and often tell you the most mediocre places in the world are must see attractions or places to stay.  You're so much better off winging things, you get a more genuine experience.

The first place I visited was Kiyomizu-dera Temple, which was within 20 minutes of my hostel.  I knew Japan was a very crowded place, with one of the densest populations in the world, but you have no clue what it's like until you see it with your own eyes.  Every attraction you go to is packed, apparently temple hopping is the cool thing to do for school kids.  The temples in Japan are similar to the ones in Korea, in the sense that they have sprawling complexes, but the architecture is way different and there are often prominent displays of water.  

Japan = People Everywhere

I think like, the worst part of like, staying in Kyoto was like, the fact that there were like, a bunch of Americans that were, like staying there and like, they just couldn't, like stop sounding so stupid, like you know... I like, really don't miss home, like at all :p

Never take a day for granted...

Why does every Asian tourist step in front of my camera?

My next stop was Heian-jingu Shrine, which was also within 20 minutes of the hostel, but in the opposite direction.  So much cardio!  The shrine itself wasn't anything special, but for an extra $6 you could check out the gardens, which were actually pretty awesome and included a bunch of ponds full of coy fish and turtles.  The whole city is worth seeing in general, you really don't need a plan at all.  You can literally find a temple, shrine, or pagoda every 400 meters.  Most of the temples shut down at 5 PM, but a lot of the grounds stay open, so you can pretty much explore all night if you want to.

Orange is one of my most favoritest colors ever!!!

I found these hanging in an alleyway...
Then I ran

The next day I purchased an all day bus pass for $5, so I could visit the temples on the Western side of Kyoto, since I was staying on the Eastern side.  It's a pretty sweet deal since buses cost $2.30 every time you hop on, regardless of distance.  I think I rode the bus like 6 times, so it more than paid for itself.  I ended up visiting three different temples, with each temple costing $4 or $5, but none of the temple complexes were that large, so you could get through them in 30-40 minutes, while taking your time.  Therefore I decided to cap myself at three temples, because otherwise it was going to be way too expensive and let's be honest, once you've seen 5 temples in 2 days...That's more than enough. 


There's a really famous bridge in Kyoto called Togetsu-kyo, so I scoped that as well.  The river it overlooks is pretty cool, with the water being pseudo-dammed in.  I saw some ducks diving into the water and catching fish with some pretty insane success, one somehow caught four fish in a row, so much fun to watch!  It has a really peaceful setup, with benches lined up all across the river for anyone that wants to sit down and enjoy the view.   Japan definitely knows how to keep it zen.

There's always a temple house on the water...always

When the day comes that I finally own a house, I'm making it Japanese style... Geishas included

This is exactly the type of room I could start a cult in

They say the most beautiful things in life are also the deadliest. I suppose that makes me the most dangerous man to ever live

Togetsu-kyo bridge

In order to maximize my rail pass, I decided to take a day trip to Nara, which was less than an hour away via train.  The main tourist attractions are pretty much all in an area called Nara Park, so all you have to do is walk there from the train station and pop into anything that tickles your fancy.  Nara is also famous for their deer population, which roams around free.  There are vendors everywhere that will sell you cookies that you can feed to the deer.  I'm not sure how I feel about it, it's kind of cool I guess, but I'm not sure deer are meant to be domesticated and reliant on human support...And a diet of cookies can't be healthy for any creature.

A lot of the temple grounds in Nara Park are open, but you typically have to pay to go inside the temple, though a few are free.  There was only one that I really wanted to go to, Todai-ji, which houses a gigantic Buddha and seems to be the main tourist attraction.  Japan is super strict on the use of tripods, with most temples banning them.  I suppose I'll have to get creative (at bending the rules) to make some time lapses.  In addition to the temples, the park itself is quite stunning, so there's plenty to enjoy.

How bad am I at geography? I had no idea Nara was a city in Japan, I just knew it as a restaurant that sold me saki bombs and sushi

I like how the roofs of each story of  the pagoda are shaped like smiley faces, it makes me happy :)

You want to do what and where?!?!  Keep it down my deer, we're in public

Sometimes I'll just stare into the distance and  feel the shivers run down my spine.  I can't explain it, but I know I was meant to come here.

Todai-ji Temple was the largest wooden structure in the world until 1998, so it's now effectively the largest ancient wooden structure in the world.  This version of the building was finsihed in 1709, how crazy is that?

At 15 meters, this is the largest statue of the Buddha Vairocana in the world

I have a super ambitious plan for maximizing my 21 day rail pass, in which I'm going to attempt to see around 15 different cities, so after getting my fill of castles in Kyoto and Nara I decided to spend the next day visiting my first castle!  Himeji Castle is supposedly the most famous in Japan, but it's under construction until 2015, so you can't enter the main building, but you can still explore the surrounding complex.  To make up for this, the ticket is discounted by 200 yen.  I opted for the combo ticket which also gave me access to some gardens, (which I actually never found) so I didn't end up saving any money.

The design of the outer wall was quite impressive, they carved chutes below each window so they could drop rocks on any invaders that tried to scale the walls.  The castle also had a mini-museum that has some bad ass Samurai swords and armor in it.  I didn't see any signs restricting tripods either, so I made a pretty sweet time lapse of the construction on the castle, I cannot wait to actually put some of my time lapses into a video, they're gonna be sick!  Himeji wasn't my last stop for the day however, as I decided to take a Shinkansen train to Hiroshima.

I can't wait to compare this to some European castles!!!

How bad ass would I look in this armor?

I'm the king of the castle and you're the dirty rascal

The Shinkansen - Japan's bullet trains can travel between 240-320 kmh (150-200 mph), with experimental trains running even faster. 

Taking a bullet train in Japan is something everyone needs to experience, it's my favorite form of transportation by far.  It's so easy, you don't have to check your bags or go through security or any of that crap, you just walk up to the platform and wait until the train arrives exactly at the time it is scheduled.  Seriously, it's always on time.  Once you get onboard, you can stow your bags in a giant overhead compartment, sit down in your gigantic, cozy recliner and stretch your legs out, because you have spades of legroom.  Yao Ming could fit in these seats.  These Shinkansen are like 20 years old and are more advanced than any train I've ever been on.  The next set of Shinkansens are gong to use maglev technology... as in magnetic levitation.  Seriously!  There aren't going to be wheels, the trains will hover above the tracks through the power of magnetic fields.   Rumor has it there's a version that tops 500kmh (310 mph).

But anyways, before I go down the nerd vortex again... Hiroshima was the first city to ever be struck with an atomic bomb, but is now a self-proclaimed city of peace despite the devastation it faced from war. I despise war, I don't even like watching war movies, and get very uncomfortable around sad and depressing places, so I knew this was going to be a hard place for me to visit, but that's a story for another blog...

Random GoPros 

My first Japanese subway experience...and that's quite possibly armpit hair, not a shadow, protruding from my sleeve...I have a bit of a teen wolf situation going on at the moment

I love that there's a giant bunny holding a baton next to this dude

Kings of Leon - Molly's Hangover

If a fish came to me and told me he was going on a journey, I should say, "With what porpoise...No wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise." (Alice in Wonderland reference, drink!)

Some will bet against you, try even to prevent you.  But not many can stop you now, if you got a perfect plan.  Can they possibly try, I demand to know why they would doubt you.  In this hand, a thousand generations...

The Japanese love water, almost every temple you visit has a gigantic pond...or five

Bamboo Grove

Some things just look way cooler through the (fish) eye of a GoPro

Sika Deer are allowed to roam free throughout Nara and other parts of Japan.

The sky is so much cleaner in Japan than it was in Korea.  Look at those clouds, magnifico!

There are literally thousands of temples in the Nara/Osaka/Kyoto area and every one I caught even a minor glimpse of was packed with people...It's incredible

The Big Bad Buddha

I love Japanese architecture, I'm not sure there's anything about Japan I don't love.  I love it here...Can I stay?

I even like the museums!  This cartoon diorama of feudal Japan is ultra groovy

Who's this handsome devil?  I wouldn't mind kissing that man between the cheeks

We''ve Got Seoul, But We're Not Soldiers

Hunger.  It's the only thing that reminds me I'm not completely supernatural.   Most people would probably look for Korean food when they arrive in Seoul, but I saw a sign for Mexican food upon leaving the subway, and I love me some Mexican.  How does that place afford advertising in the subway?  By charging $14 per meal.  My only thought was how can I eat that food when I can't even stomach their prices.  Upon departing that place, I saw a sign, a sign that changed everything.  You see for the first time since I left America I saw something of unrivaled magnificence.  The Belle of the ball, The Bell I was Saved By, Taco Bell.

I stared down at the beefy potato burrito in front of me, my eyes roaming her perfect form up and down. I unwrapped her like a gift, the greatest gift my taste buds would ever receive.  I added an exotic mixture of sauces, both Fire and Hot, knowing that it'd been a while and we needed to spice things up.  I cradled her in my hands and slowly drew her closer to my lips so my tongue could begin reveling in her majestic glory.  After a few moments I pulled away and couldn't help but open my eyes and marvel at her beauty.  Taco Bell, I love you.  (FYI - I toned this passage down a lot...you are welcome)

Once I started digesting the Taco Bell, I remembered the consequences of dining on such fine cuisine.  With sever stomach pain and the imminent threat of diarrhea upon me, I decided to acquaint myself with the district I was in, Itaewon, since I would be meeting my Lowelife brother, Bryn, and his friend Chris there later that evening.  I even managed to find a park with some outdoor workout equipment to help keep this body in respectable condition, but had to quit after about three minutes as I was feeling the side effects of my meal: Meat sweats, shortness of breath, and a level of indigestion that makes you wonder if you're suffering the full onslaught of a ruptured appendix.

Now ladies, you're well aware that when I arrive in a new country, you begin tingling... Uncontrollably.  When me and my broseph arrive...Ooooo shiver me timbers ladies, shiver me timbers.  However, there's one other thing you should know about us, we are mortal enemies.   In fact ever since he started wearing cologne, I've been dumping out half the bottle and filling it back up with urine.  From 1993-1997, I put tufts of wolf fur in his bed during nights of full moons, so he'd wonder if he was a werewolf.  Whenever he'd get blackout drunk and pass out, I would melt snickers bars in the microwave and stuff the contents in his underwear so he'd think he shit his pants.  One time I sold all of his furniture on craigslist and then let him buy me ice cream while we filed a police report for stolen property. What has he done to me in return?  When I graduated high school he drove me to Chicago to take me to a USA vs England soccer match, when I graduated college he let me live with him for free until I found a job, and when he came to meet me here he brought me a pair of nice headphones since all of mine keep breaking.  In other words, I'm awesome and he is kind of a wuss.

No one had anything pre-planned for our first day, so we decided to just go to the middle of the city and start wandering around.  It worked out pretty well as we stumbled upon a bunch of the recommended markets and temples that are among Seoul's top tourist attractions.  I was expecting the markets in Korea to be shit in comparison to the ones in Southeast Asia, but I was totally wrong.  The markets are massive here, spanning multiple blocks; They seem never-ending.  The prices are pretty on par with what you would expect, but just like all other markets there isn't a huge variety; It's just the same items being sold over and over.  We also got our first taste of street food, the famous Korean pancake.  We finished the day by wandering down to the river and enjoying some beers.  Apparently drinking in public is perfectly acceptable here!

In case you can't read Korean, the sign says, "To the sexiest man alive, Sean Lowe, our Seoul is yours"

I'd kill for one of those swords....literally (psychotic laughing smiley while slowly raising stolen, bloody sword in hand)

The Brothers Lowe, Slowe and Blowe

Being able to share a beer with friends in a foreign country, can't ask for much more than that :)

Cherry blossoms are a pretty big part of Asian culture, so we headed to a park where we hoped to see some in bloom, but we missed them by a few weeks.  The petals are extremely delicate, so they usually only last for a week or two before getting blown away.  We decided to roam around the park anyways and hung out by the river for a little while.  On our way back to the subway we saw a bunch of dudes playing, what we call it in the hood, "Street Ball".

So here's the deal.  When you're a person with unbelievable athleticism, unrivaled muscular definition, and gorgeous hair, you're gonna play pick up basketball on the mean streets of Korea.  Did I hit the rim on a single shot where I was further than 4 feet from the hoop? Absolutely not.  Apparently after 9 months of muscular atrophy, I wasn't strong enough to get the ball airborne.  However, Chris is a 6'3 white guy and we were playing a bunch of Asians, so we won both games.  

I will buy a garden where your flowers can bloom.  I will buy you a new car, perfect shiny and new.  I will buy you that big house way up in the west hills, I will buy you a new life....

Should I move here or remain Seoulless?

Pick up basketball game in Korea...Check

The three of us are pretty outdoorsy, so we decided to hike to Baegundae Peak on Mt. Bukhansan, the highest mountain in Seoul.  The path up was pretty cool and had a gradual incline, but once you got close to the top it became extremely steep.  The path started to disappear eventually dwindling into a slope with a rope nailed into the cliff-side.  Thus Bryn and Chris got an introduction into Asian hiking, where there are no rules and American safety regulations don't apply.  

As rough as getting to the top was, the view was fucking epic.  It might even be in my top 10.  Seeing the sheer size of Seoul from that high is mind-numbing.  Outside of Tokyo, it's the largest metropolitan area in the world.  There was a tiny little podium at the very top that we made it up to, but immediately after arriving a ranger told us we had to start climbing back down, because there was a helicopter rescue crew coming to save some people that were stranded on the mountain.  So no photos of us at the top with the Korean flag...I guess we'll just have to come back another time :).

Pathway, just a bunch of rocks...Whatevs

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.  Let's climb some mountains, make some money, find some models for wives.  I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars.  You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.  This our decision, to live fast and die young.  We've got the vision, now let's have some fun! Yeah it's overwhelming, but what else can we do?  Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?

Last year: South America, This year: South Korea, Next Year......?!?!?

Those dots are people scaling the mountain!

For some reason this makes me think of MacGuyver and I just want to yell, "MURDOC!!!!"

We were pretty famished after the hike, so we grabbed some street food, followed by some Mexican food to fuel back up.  Though we already had the amazing city view from the top of the mountain, we decided to check out the view from Seoul Tower, which is the #1 tourist attraction in the city.   We took a cable car from the city up to the tower and then paid another fee to go to the top.  Price gouging!  The view was pretty cool, but the windows were smeared with finger prints and had an insane amount of glare, so you couldn't get an unobscured view.  The worst part?  We were planning on getting some street food on the way back: Waffles stuffed with ice cream, but alas, it was closed when we got back.  :'(

I feel like when an architect designs a building, he draws a penis and then modifies it just enough to not look exactly like a penis

I'm not sure if they made the windows pro-glare enough.  I could use at least 30% more glare when looking out of them.  I mean why would I want to see the city outside when I can see the room I'm standing in?

Our next stop was Busan, which is the second largest city in Korea, and happens to be on the coast!  Don't get too excited ladies, it's too cold for bathing suits at the moment, so you won't see any photos of us shirtless.  Normally I would take the bus, but the other guys wanted to take the bullet train since they couldn't afford to waste too much time travelling between destinations.  I sucked up the extra cost of the ticket as I was saving quite a bit of money by sleeping on the floors of their hotel rooms.  Definitely a good trade off for me!

We spent our first day in Busan roaming around and drinking the occasional brew.  For our second day we decided to do another hike in Busan since the one in Seoul was so awesome, this time heading to Guemjongsan.  Our time was limited, so we took cable cars to the main hiking ground and then just hiked a few of the shorter trails.  Most of the signs were in Korean, so we didn't really know where we were going, but eventually we found a couple good vantage points. After returning from the mountain we grabbed our gear and then switched over to a hotel that was near Busan's most famous beach, Haeundae. 

Bullet Train to Busan!

Amazing views from the cable car

Air quality....Questionable

I can't remember the man, that panhandler, or his melody.  But the words exchanged had far exceeded any change I'd given thee...

The hotel in Haeundae was pretty amazing, it even had a queen and a twin mattress, so I was able to share a bed with Bryn instead of sleeping on the floor.  Remember, sleeping in the same bed as your grown sibling is acceptable, so long as it's not Lannister style.  We arrived at the hotel close to supper time, so Bryn and I decided to dine at a Korean BBQ place we saw nearby.  Chris is a vegetarian, which might actually be illegal in Korea, so he was told there weren't any vegetarian options.  Which kind of makes no sense because Korean BBQ consits of grilling meat and then adding that to veggie filled lettuce wraps... It's like, just a let a bro grill some tofu.  Ergo, he was forced to dine on some Indian food instead.

After our respective dinners we grabbed some Soju from the convenience store and hit up the beach.  The price is unbeatable, one bottle is $1.25 and it's over 18% alcohol.  You could get absolutely hammered for 4 or 5 bucks.  Side note: Walking up to a girl with a soju and saying, "Soju think you can dance?", does not work and probably never will.  The taste of soju is pretty rough.  It's basically like drinking a slightly watered down version of vodka.  I mean, at least throw a little bit of dragon fruit extract in there.  Haeundae Beach also delivered in one other very important area...It had a shop that sold waffles with ice cream!!!

I can't even begin to describe how delicious this concoction is.  A warm, fluffy waffle, freshly buttered, diced into perfect size bites and then covered with exactly the correct amount of ice cream.  It might be the greatest ice cream related dessert I've ever had.  After the waffles, we kicked back a few beers and played some darts before heading to the street market one last time to get a little midnight snack.  Everything seemed to be closing down, but we were able to score some veggie pancakes and a couple of suited up dudes shared some of their soju with us.

Haeundae Beach

You thinking what I'm thinkin bro?  I was thinking we pound these sojus and put the laid in ladies if you know what I'm saying, is that what you were thinking?  I was actually thinking about what it would be like to tickle a dead pigeon, but let's do your thing.  Huzzah!!!

The next day we said our goodbyes as Bryn and Chris headed back to Seoul to catch their flight home.  As a parting gift my bro gave me a dozen cliff bars, to help fuel my remaining hikes.  The gesture almost made me feel bad for filling his cologne bottle with rattlesnake urine the previous night... Since I had done no planning before arriving in Korea, I didn't know what I was going to do after they departed, so I figured I might as well hike another mountain and then spend a few days relaxing to figure it all out.

I chose to climb Jangsan mountain, because the path runs through an old mine field.  How cool is that?!?!  I will say that hiking in Korea is an adventure as the signs are only occasionally written in English.  My goal was to hike to the peak, but whenever I followed a sign, the distance seemed to change.  I was 3.0 KM away, but after following that path, I was 3.7 km away, then I was 2 km, 2.7 km, 900 meters, 1.6 km, 3 km.  It was pretty demoralizing as I had no idea where I was or even which hill I was supposed be climbing, because the mountains, being Asian, all looked the same.  Luckily everyone in Korea is super nice, so whenever I found someone that spoke English they told me the basic direction to go.  All in all, what was supposed to be a 8 KM round trip taking 3 hours, turned into about a 16 KM trip taking 6 hours.  After that climb, I deserved some relaxation time and spent the next few days bumming around Busan's beaches.

The buildings are so overwhelmingly white here (My only guess is that it's due to air traffic or building codes, who knows?)...I would totally mix it up and build a gigantic green building just to throw everyone off.

Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.  Where trouble melts like lemon drops, high above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me.......

Summer dies and swells rise, the sun goes down in my eyes.  I see this rolling wave darkly coming to take me home.  And I've never been so alone. And I've never been so alive.

I love the architecture in Korea, it's fascinating.

I ended up staying at Mr. Kim's guesthouse in Busan and it was one of the best hostels I've ever stayed at.  On the day I was leaving, I told him I was going to take the ferry to Jeju island, despite the fact one had sunk a few weeks prior.  Five minutes later he came up to me and told me it would be cheaper to fly.  Apparently if you book flights through the Korean website you get better prices than the English site, so with his help I was able to book a ticket, including checked baggage, for $30.  The ferry would have been well over $40 and would have taken 12 hours vs. the 1 hour flight.  I have to say, I don't think I've ever met as many genuinely nice people as I have in Korea.  All of the locals will try and help you if they can and if they don't speak English they'll apologize for not being able to help you.  It's an amazing place.

My flight to Jeju was swift, but my ability to find my hostel was not.  However, that's a story for another blog...

Random GoPros

Koreans are the kindest people I've ever encountered

Korean BBQ!  Looks a little weird, but tastes amazing!

Have you seen Orphan Black?  This is where I'm going to propose to Tatiana Maslany, she is incredible.  She does have one major flaw...being Canadian, but with a little surgery even that can be fixed!

May the good lord be with you down every road you roam and may sunshine and happiness surround you when you're far from home...Forever young, forever young!

We're the cream of the crop, we rise to the top!!!

The sun lays down inside the ocean, I'm right where I belong.  Feel the air, the salt on my skin, the future's coming on.  And after living through these wild years and coming out alive, I just want to lay my head here, stop running for a while.

Sometimes you take a selfie and think, "this is going to be hilarious", but then you see it and realize it's so douchey you deserve to be punched in the face with a land mine

Ever since my arrival, the Korean government has been subject to a grueling debate about whether or not to rename the city BuSean in my honor.