The travels of Justin

I dropped by a Korean supermarket in Burnaby yesterday. There’s something fun in the mystery of not knowing what exactly you’re buying. After a visit to the funky Woongjin Food website, I found the English section and discovered I’m drinking rice—Morning Rice™, to be precise. With 43% white rice, and 33% brown, it’s a healthy [...]

I found this after a visit to http://canada.info-syn.com:
Telus is blocking access to a pro-union website that it argues “contains confidential proprietary information and that photographs on the site raise privacy and security issues for certain of its employees.” Michael Geist reminds us that internet service providers—especially Telus—have argued vocally to let the courts, not companies, [...]

Sweet! I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but Google Maps have added a “Hybrid” feature to their maps. It’s a combination of satellite imagery with major roads superimposed over the image. Here’s what Vancouver looks like in Hybrid mode.

I do not wish you joy without sorrow,
Nor endless day without the healing dark,
Nor brilliant sun without the restful shadow,
Nor tides that never turn against your back.
I wish you love, and strength, and wisdom,
And gold enough to help some needy one,
I wish you songs, but also blessed silence,
And God’s sweet peace when every day is [...]

I just got word on the street that Kamloops will be getting another radio station. Great music isn’t exactly what I’d put at the top of my list of reasons to go to Kamloops, but it’s a great little city regardless. There are a surprising number of concerts by big- and small-time acts that take [...]

The deed is done. Ryan and I will leave Vancouver to Beijing on August 24th on a Boeing 767. After a few days in Beijing, we’ll take a train to Tianjin, find our dorms, and settle into our new home.

Courtesy of NASA maps, Google has brought their mapping technology to the moon. Say hello to Google Moon.

Canada.com reports that Ontario is comtemplating privatizing the sale of liquor and getting out of their monopoly business.
The province would still collect more than $1.5 billion a year in alcohol tax and licensing revenue but would also get $200 million or more annually by selling licences to sell beer, wine and spirits, according to the [...]

Tonight at a barbeque I met the fabulous and interesting duo of Ben and Julia who are preparing to teach English in Japan for a year, if I remember correctly, and then will spend some time in Angola
I swear that no one goes abroad until you do it, and then it’s as if everyone you [...]

In 5 short hours I’ll be catching a bus to Kamloops to take care of some arrangements for my China trip. Especially when I’m walking, I even find our 18-degree celsius temperatures warm enough. Environment Canada says to expect highs of 30-degrees back in Kamloops!
As I take another look to Tianjin, China, it’s currently 26-degrees [...]