I Bought a New MacBook!

Hey folks! Yes, I am still alive and well. Things have been busy at home so I haven't had much time to update the blog. But I recently did something very significant in terms of updating my computer collection: I bought a Mac!

I was waiting patiently for Apple to update their MacBook line up and I'm glad I did. I ended up picking up a 13" aluminum base model and I've been loving it! Using OS X was a bit weird at first, but I quickly picked up the differences after using Windows for the past 15 years!

I am happy to say that I will never have to format and reinstall XP ever again. What a great feeling to be liberated from the grips of Microsoft. It's really unfortunate that I never did get the chance to experience the wonderful upgrade in Vista. /sarcasm

Anyways, here is a pic for your enjoyment. If you have any applications you can recommend or good sites to visit, let me know! Until then, I'm happily enjoying my new MacBook to go along with my iPhone 3G. Does this qualify me as an Apple fan boy yet? ;)

Blog World Expo 2008 Contest Entry Take 2

For those who have been following my blog still, you may remember my previous contest entry to win a full pass to the 2008 Blog World Expo from the notorious panda killer, John Chow. Well, unfortunately I didn't hit the jackpot that time, but here we go again. Enter Blog World Expo 2008 contest entry, take 2!

Zac Johnson is going to part of probably going to complete one of the most EPIC panels ever at Blog World Expo 2008. You're not going to find a bigger star-studded line up of bloggers and marketers then the likes of John Chow, Jim Kukral, Darren Rowse, Jeremy Schoemaker, and Brian Clark. These guys can afford lots of luxury goods I tell ya!

Why Do I Want to Attend Blog World Expo in Las Vegas?

I want to attend the Expo for a variety of reasons. Attending the Blog World Expo will allow me to meet so many of these influential bloggers and marketers whose advice I've been following all this time. It's through the help of people such as Zac Johnson, John Chow, Darren Rowse, and Shoemoney that have helped inspire my blogging aspirations. Their models for positive success has helped me achieve my own through my other blog, iPhoneinCanada.ca!

Moreover, I have already booked my flight/hotel to the Expo and I am excited to visit Las Vegas for the first time. I managed to book an Exhibit-only pass at Blog World. If I won this full conference pass it would definitely be the icing on the cake!

Winning this pass would enable me to witness history in the making by listening to some of my online mentors speak about what they love to do best! I'm also looking forward to meeting the Unique Blog Designs crew that helped design my iPhone blog too!

Hopefully this entry explains why I want to attend the Blog World Expo 2008. Looking forward to seeing you all in Vegas, thanks for the contest, Zac!

Food Consumed During the Summer (Goodbye Summer!)

Helloooooo everybody! No, this isn't your eyes playing a sick joke on you, it really is Gdog coming at you with a blog update! How lucky (or unlucky) for you! Well, the summer has come and gone and it's been a busy one. I've been very busy with my iPhone blog and enjoying my first summer summer off as a teacher (it's going to be extremely difficult to wake up early again). 

Anyways, aside from relaxing everyday and riding my bike around town, I've eaten a whole variety of different food here in Vancouver. You can eat any cuisine as the choice are just endless. I'm going to stop with the rant and jump right to the pictures!

BBQ salmon on a cedar plank:

BBQ Duck Noodles at Congee Noodle House on Broadway/Main:

Beef and black been sauce on rice noodles at McKim's Noodle house in Richmond:

Cedar plank salmon with chips and guacamole:

Fresh fruit salad (Yes, I made this) with fresh black plums, lychees, raspberries, cherries, green seedless grapes:

Fresh steamed mussels on the patio at Granville Island:

Some breakfast action at IHOP...look at those pancakes baby!!

Beef flank noodles with beef tripe...MMMmmm....mom's special recipe:

Chicken Shawarma plate...there was so much food here I could barely finish it:

The best egg benedict in Vancouver at Cafe Zen on Yew St:

BULGOGI downtown on Robson St (there's a mini Korea-town strip there):

Homemade lasagna with meat sauce:

Clubhouse sandwich with double the bacon...yes, that is a jar of Miracle Whip!

So there you have it, that's just a small sample of the food I've enjoyed eating this summer. The cherry season was cut short due to weather that affected the crop, which resulted in higher than average prices. These local cherries from the Okanagan are the highlight of my summers!

On a side note, I've been having some fun shooting photos with my Canon digital SLR and recently photographed my first wedding with my uncle. It was a great experience and you can check out our gallery here.

OH, by the way, I've been getting emails about teaching in Korea from lots of ya. Sorry if I haven't responded, just email me again. Anyways, if you haven't already, be sure to check out my Teaching English in Korea FAQ to help you answer some questions. Good luck and talk soon!

Aspiring to Head to Blog World in Las Vegas

Hey folks, it's been a while since Gdog has posted on The Daily Kimchi. Anyways, the summer has been going great, keeping very busy. So busy that I've neglected this blog! Anyways, today I'm going to post about why I hope to win a ticket to the Blog World Expo, the largest convention on blogging that is being held in Las Vegas this September. My buddy John Chow is holding a contest giving away two free tickets and I'm hoping that I get one of them.

Why I Deserve the Pass to Blog World

First things first, I am free in September and am committed to going to Blog World. You won't be wasting giving away your tickets to someone who is not going. I want to go to Blog World to network and finally meet all the crazy bloggers in this world. Notable examples are Shoemoney, the UBD crew that helped setup my iPhone Blog theme.

To experience the chance to meet these influential bloggers at the blogging mecca would be an unforgettable experience that would add to my blogging repertoire. By actually attending the conference would help me focus my efforts on blogging and to become even more successful online.

I've been blogging since July of 2006, starting with The Daily Kimchi. I posted on this blog everyday for a solid year while in Korea--now that's dedication! This blog has become my online diary for blogging essentially, hence why I'm posting this entry here. For my iPhone in Canada blog I have not missed a daily post since its creation in December of 2007. It's this kind of dedication and commitment to blogging that proves why I am serious about showing up at the Blog World Expo.

I'm not going to play the pity card and create some sort of sob story about why I should win a ticket. The fact of the matter is I deserve to go because I understand blogging and have created one of the most successful iPhone blogs in a matter of 8 short months (1.1 million pageviews, 300,000 visitors, and 3100+ RSS readers in July!), plus one of the most popular Teaching in Korea blogs too. I have put in the homework to research and learn how to create successful blogs. These are the cold hard facts--the Blog World Expo is waiting for me to arrive!

What makes me different from others? I actually have implemented every single idea I've come across (including John's ideas), versus others that just talk about making a blog! What a simple concept to success! Regardless, if I don't win the free pass I'm going to put up the cash to buy a ticket and go anyways. That's how serious I am about heading to Blog World!

Also, John Chow owes me $4.25 in scooter gas money, so to win this pass I would accept it as a fair offer of paying me back. So there you go folks. That's my entry and see ya in Las Vegas!

The Quest for Shinpo Woori Mandoo in Vancouver

I know what you're thinking and I already have the answer to your question--yes, we are still alive and kicking! This is definitely the longest break between posts but it's been busy busy buy here so updates have been slow. Now that I have the summer to enjoy, maybe expect a few more updates coming your way!

For those long time readers, remember when I visited Tommy Hilfiger's long lost brother, Tommy Atkins? That night we ate at Shinpo Woori Mandoo. On our first visit there I noticed there was a Shinpo location in Vancouver! So, out of the blue we decided to embark on a trek to locate this Shinpo location in downtown Vancouver.

First off, great news, we found the location! Bad news, the place has closed down! LOL. I don't know if they moved or not, but I thought of Western businesses failing in Korea (think Walmart) and then here we have Shinpo's chain closing shop in Canada. Maybe the owners went back to Korea or moved to another location. I'll have to investigate further.

So Shinpo was off the list for dinner. Where to? We headed down Robson Street, which on the northern end of the street is almost like a mini Korean-town. We went to this one restaurant that had some pretty darn good naengmyeon. We each ordered one and also a dolsot bibimbap! It was like being back in Korea again (well, almost). The restaurant had one table of Koreans that were speaking...Korean--pretty much drowning the entire restaurant in "OOOHHHHS" etc.

Anyways, here are the pictures!

It's been a while since we had the whole water jug on table experience...

Konglish is awesome...NANG MYEN BABY! It's "one of the most famous food in Korea"

This table made sure we knew they were Korean:

The side dishes...

The naengmyeon...it was actually really good.

Korean seems to taste reallly good in Vancouver. I don't know if it has to do with the ingredients, but the flavors taste fresher than the dishes in Korea. The thing I miss the most though? The price! Naengmyeon could be had for 2900w ($3CDN) in Korea, where as each bowl here cost $8.95/BOWL plus tax/tip...so yeah...Korean is cheaper in Korea. Hope everybody is enjoying their summer...I sure am enjoying mine! ;)