Comments Posted By Kevin Kim
Displaying 3,091 To 3,120 Of 4,392 Comments
Oh, and an editor’s note: “Daechang” should be “Daecheong.”
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 30/November/2019 @ 11:11 pm
Thanks for joining me on that bracing walk! Thanks, too, for coming over for dunch/linner. Next time, we’ll do a savory pie!
Safe trip back.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 30/November/2019 @ 10:59 pm
I’ve seen you rack up over 30K steps before—many times. I seriously doubt this hike will be all that massive, especially since you’ll be walking along with my slow ass.
Good to see you had the chance to spread some seasonal cheer among the ladies. Happy Thanksgiving!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 28/November/2019 @ 8:42 pm
Welcome back to the badlands!
You realize, of course, that you can pay any Korean taxi driver with a credit card. No need to get out and come back.
And you’ve been away from Pyeongtaek for so long that you’ve forgotten there’s a “g” in the name! The PI has become your very own River Lethe.
Respect and hats off to Mr. So. 49 years! We Gen Xers, many of us nomads, have no idea what company loyalty means.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 27/November/2019 @ 8:42 pm
There are several points along the Seoul-to-Bundang walk where we can jump off the trail and onto a subway to head back. That shouldn’t be a problem. Let’s just make sure you don’t let things get too severe—out of a sense of pride—before you finally tap out! First sign of trouble, we abort the mission. Better safe than sorry.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 27/November/2019 @ 7:46 pm
Safe travels! If you’re tearing up those steep mountain trails, then I think a flat walk to Bundang is going to be easy-peasy.
They’re forecasting a 20% chance of rain for Saturday, so I think we’re going to be okay. If we get caught by rain partway along the path to Bundang, I’ll bring along a poncho for me and an umbrella for you.
Will be in touch via Kakao.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 26/November/2019 @ 5:28 pm
I guess just stick with the places and people you have positive memories about and associations with. Don’t visit old haunts where the bitter ghosts of the past can sink their ectoplasmic claws into you. I’m impressed, though, that you last tried a Korea visit only five months ago, and you’re already trying again.
Oh, and go somewhere you’ve never been before! I know you’re a creature of habit, but having a new experience while in Korea might be just the thing to help create some new, positive memories.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 25/November/2019 @ 6:29 pm
Interesting for me as well. I haven’t done any distance walking at all for the past month! I’ll get in a few strolls this week, though.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 25/November/2019 @ 9:49 am
If the world is your church, then you can worship anywhere, I guess.
Congrats on the win. Looking forward to Saturday.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 24/November/2019 @ 7:42 pm
Wherever you turn, the nanny state is there, and it continues to encroach despite the efforts of the true Resistance. Sorry to hear about the imminent vaping ban. What’re you gonna do when they ban beer and other intoxicants, thereby forcing you further and further into a Muslim lifestyle? Soon enough: no more pork, no more lady Hashers in tight shorts, none of that Western nonsense.
As for the ants: I heard years ago that boric acid is the answer for an ant problem. Learn more here.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/November/2019 @ 8:02 pm
Dead man walking? I’d say you’re very much alive and kicking. Keep making the most of the present moment, my friend.
By the way, that horse looks as if it’s morphing into an alpaca.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 21/November/2019 @ 4:19 pm
Sorry to read that it was a rough day full of bureaucratic bullshit. Good thing you managed to keep your cell phone!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/November/2019 @ 8:53 pm
Good luck with the Hash. I look forward to the pics. As for those menu items… yeah, I’d read that the same way you did. And in the end, because I’d still want the quantity I’d want, I’d end up paying double just be to sure I got two of everything. Ten dollars for a full-size breakfast is a bit expensive by US Denny’s standards ($7-$8), but it’s not awful.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/November/2019 @ 5:33 pm
Oh, yeah—I forgot to say that, on your worst day, you’re not Hoyt-level bad. Whatever might be going on with your punctuation, your ideas are always clear and rational.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/November/2019 @ 10:47 pm
A lot of people quote Sarah approvingly; they’re able to get past her many, many gaffes. She apparently speaks and writes several languages; she’s originally from Portugal, I think, and she has repeatedly said that English isn’t her first language (at a guess, “Hoyt” is her non-Portuguese husband’s surname). Still, that’s no excuse if she has pretensions to playing in the same park as the big dogs on Instapundit and elsewhere. I know French people who speak and write in picture-perfect US English, so that’s the standard I hold Sarah to, especially if she fancies herself an English-language novelist. God, where would she be without editors? And for me, it’s not just the grammar and mechanics that are problematic: the way she puts her ideas together also gives me a headache. If she calls herself a writer, then she’s a bad one.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/November/2019 @ 5:56 pm
See, that’s what happens when you don’t label your photos. Or are we supposed to know Allen by sight? I’ll have to go back through your posts and see how often he’s mentioned and shown in pictures!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/November/2019 @ 5:46 pm
I’m gonna guess that Allen is the dude on the far left, in the blue cap, with a dartboard halo behind his head. Congrats on the win!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/November/2019 @ 12:13 am
Interesting. I was expecting the CCTV to be set up outside.
How did you decide on the camera positions? Did the American who sold you the CCTV system help out with that as well?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 15/November/2019 @ 8:54 pm
The low spark of high-heeled boys
Glad you managed to avoid impaling yourself. And that set of stairs looked pretty grim. I don’t envy you.
Also: I can’t un-see Lucky’s balls. Thanks.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/November/2019 @ 7:35 pm
Well, I guess you wouldn’t want the new big dog to eat the two little ones….
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/November/2019 @ 3:33 pm
Good luck adjusting to the new normal!
(Don’t forget to get one of these.)
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 13/November/2019 @ 9:27 pm
If you haven’t watched “John Wick, Chapter 3” yet, I highly recommend it for the attack-dog scenes. Those dogs do some amazing stunt work, and it’s hilarious, too. According to the behind-the-scenes footage, Halle Berry trained extensively with the dogs from the get-go, so the rapport you see on screen, between her and her character’s dogs, is very real.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 12/November/2019 @ 8:24 pm
So you DO have a machete! Goddammit, why were you so coy before? I kept asking and asking, and you kept saying, “Foreigners can’t have weapons.” And yet, here you are with a fookin’ MACHETE! Now the question is: do you have the gear to keep that fucker sharp? I think that’d be an excellent investment, and it’d get you working with your hands. John Mac: expert bladesmith!
Nah, I’m not actually pissed off about your coyness. Just surprised. Congratulations on arming yourself! Get a few other bladed weapons while you’re at it, and scatter them throughout your home for easy access. I’d recommend a battle axe and a leaf-bladed spear that has a point plus two cutting edges so you can either swing it or jab it. A man’s home is his castle, and you must be ready to defend your castle. Oh, and get a much bigger dog for your canine crew. One that’s psychologically unstable and will scare your housekeepers. Belgian Malinois is good; it’s basically a blackface German shepherd, so it can defend your house while doing an impression of Justin Trudeau or Virginia’s current governor, Ralph Northam.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 12/November/2019 @ 7:04 pm
Start watching Joerg Sprave’s “The Slingshot Channel” on YouTube to learn how to make your own deadly slingshots. Once you make a slingshot, buying the ball bearings is a cinch. Then, it’s just a matter of practicing. A lot like darts, but with more at stake!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 13/November/2019 @ 3:39 am
Oh, yeah: you gonna buy one of those nifty CCTV systems they sell at places like Costco? And how about motion-sensor lights? How useful are the Filipino police in situations like this? Do they help the foreigners out, or do they shrug and claim there’s nothing to be done?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 11/November/2019 @ 6:54 pm
Wow. Can’t say I envy you that experience. Damn. And yes: it could’ve been much worse. As for blaming yourself: ultimately, the thieves are to blame for their own actions. I see what you’re saying re: taking precautions, but a clever and determined thief will find a way around whatever obstacles you throw in his way (I realize that’s not reassuring).
Sorry to read that so many precious items got taken. That definitely sucks. I hope the computer didn’t have any irreplaceable photos or videos on it (I’m not referring to porn!). I’ve got pics and vids of my mom on my laptop. I don’t know what I’d do if that ever got stolen. And that reminds me: I ought to be backing up my files pretty regularly. So should we all, really.
Still can’t buy a gun, eh? Might be time to have a fucking crossbow 3D-printed. Or make one out of PVC pipe; there are instructional videos on YouTube.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 11/November/2019 @ 6:44 pm
Regarding my first comment: I’m not sure why I assumed a speed of 5K steps per hour for myself. My natural speed, unencumbered, is 6K steps/hr. So let me try the math again: I’d do 31K steps in about 5.2 hours, compared to your speed, which puts you at around 4.6 hours given your step rate of almost 7K steps/hr.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 11/November/2019 @ 9:05 am
Really wanna piss off the liberal ex-wife? Give her a dose of Dr. Vallicella. She seems kind of dim, though, so I suspect she’ll just label him a blowhard, too, instead of actually trying to internalize his arguments and to refute him on his own terms (which is the only way to convince anyone of anything). What on earth did you see in her? Me, I like a woman with brains. Smart is sexy.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 10/November/2019 @ 10:55 pm
31K steps is an impressive amount of walking! For me, that would represent about 6.2 hours, assuming I’m unencumbered and pain-free. For you, I’m guessing it’d be closer to 4.5 to 5 hours, given how much faster you walk—am guessing 6 kph. Your Fitbit is saying 5.2 kph, when I do the math based on the numbers shown above, but I don’t believe it. I think it’s short-changing you on speed.
Anyway, if we were to do the 30K-step Tan Creek walk, we could certainly break the walk up with extended rest periods so it doesn’t feel like one long, unbroken trudge. That would lengthen our timetable, but it might be worth it. Last thing either of us will want is to walk while in discomfort!
As you say, though, we’ll be in touch via email and can play this by ear. Rock on!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 10/November/2019 @ 7:44 pm
«« Back To Stats PageI don’t know whether I’ll have any leftovers from my T-day get-together (which will actually be the weekend before Thanksgiving), but if I do, and if you want to swing by my place in Gangnam, you can come on by for a decent, rib-sticking meal. Arrive early enough before the meal, and we can walk one of several possible bike routes either out toward the Han River or along the Tan Creek. We could even do a 30,000-stepper along the Tan Creek, all the way to Bundang, one way, then take a subway back and do lunch, dinner, dunch/linner, or whatever. The route’s not mountainous, so it might be boring for you, but it’s a good walk.* Bring a coat: the cold has finally arrived here, at least in Seoul.
Lemme know what’s possible. I live right next to Daecheong Station, Line 3 (orange), so establishing a meeting-point is easy enough. If we can only meet on a weekday evening, then I guess we can just do a dinner in Itaewon. My treat!
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*If you want hilliness, we can do my staircase-lined route, and we can hit 14 staircases ranging in size from 72 steps to about 55 steps (they get shorter as you walk west and slightly uphill along the Yangjae Creek). That’ll get your leg muscles a-workin’. Or we could meet away from my apartment and walk back to it. I did that with a Korean friend before my big walk: we met in Yeouido and walked back to my place, which was almost exactly 20 km. I had to go a bit slowly, and my friend had to sit down at one point to rest his feet, so it took us about 4.5 hours. Will you be bringing your trekking pole along?» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/November/2019 @ 7:59 pm