About the Author
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile / Koreaphile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the Internets a better place. Thanks for reading!
Category Archives: Health
“May Disease” strikes Japan yearly
Recently I was listening to a JapanesePod101.com episode1 and they talked about something called gogatsu-byō (五月病) which can be translated as “May Disease”. According to Wikipedia JP, April is an important time for both school and work because. New students … Continue reading
Vegetarianism in Korea: Past and Present
Recently I read this interesting article from the Yonhap News Agency about the growing popularity of vegetarianism in Korea, but based on traditional dietary habits, not modern ones. In the past, I’ve talked about traditional diets in Japan, which also … Continue reading
Seaweed: Japanese and Korean style!
Unlike 20 years ago, it’s much easier to find seaweed food products in the West. I know, because when I was a teenager, sushi was new and hip and strange (remember the lunch scene from The Breakfast Club?), but now … Continue reading
Posted in Cooking, Health, Japan, Korea
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Heartburn
Lately, I’ve been having heartburn, stomach pain and vomiting. It started last year on Thanksgiving but wasn’t frequent, until February and March of this year. But the stomach pain and vomiting have become more and more frequent and my wife … Continue reading
Times have changed, and so have peoples’ heights
I saw this article recently on the Yonhap News Agency about the average height of Koreans changing in the last century. From the end of the Joseon Dynasty to now, the average height for Korean people increased by 12cm. The … Continue reading
Coffee and Tea: My Adventures and Woes
This post is dedicated to reader “Kendall” who inquired about this recently. Coffee has been my life for years. I am sure I have spent thousands of dollars in the last 10 years drinking nice coffee from the many excellent … Continue reading
The Buddha-Dharma as an antibiotic for the mind
Disclaimer: I am being metaphorical here. Anyhow, recently I was fortunate to receive a large shipment of Buddhist books from a friend overseas whom I’ve been exchanging books with over the years. The books are a mix of Theravada and … Continue reading
You’re Not Getting Any Younger
Recently I found this old comic from Sinfest,1 and wanted to talk about it here. The Buddha described the “Four Sufferings” (or “stresses” as I like to call them) in his first sermon: Birth is stress (as a parent, I … Continue reading
Getting Used to American Portions Again
So now that I have been back in the US for a couple days, I already have to re-adjust to American portion sizes again. There’s a joke in Japanese about amerika saizu meaning “American size” and now that I realize … Continue reading
T-ara’s Awesome Footwork
Yet another KPop group I’ve come to enjoy lately1 is T-ara (티아라, sounds like “tiara”), but I found this video particularly interesting because it shows them practicing in the dance studio. No alluring costumes, lighting effects, etc. Just them dancing … Continue reading
