Haedong Yonggungsa Sunrise

Watching the sunrise at Haedong Yonggungsa temple is extremely beautiful. It is recommended for anyone coming to Busan.

We arrived early and were blessed to have the experience almost to ourselves.

The temple is unique in Korea as it is on the Ocean. Most temples are situated in the foothills of mountains.

After watching the sunrise we met two monks and their dog. They were releasing turtles into the ocean!

It needs to be seen to be believed...

Fukuoka and Nokonoshima island

A few weeks ago we took an amazing weekend trip to Fukuoka Japan.

It was as amazing adventure. We spent the weekend cycling around the city as well as trying Sushi in some of the local restaurants.

We also took a ferry to Nokonoshima island where we explored the flower fields and relaxed on the amazing beaches. This island is highly recommended for anyone coming to the city.

Check out our video of the trip.

Investment fundamentals

Forex Trading:

1. The foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized market for the trading of currencies. The main participants in this market are the larger international banks.

And the larger international Simon's (I am 6"1 no less).

As someone with a strong grasp of the political economics behind international currency pairs I was confident that my first million would be traded relatively quickly. However having done a lot of reading, I realized that it is not quite as simple as I thought.

The exchange rates of a country are governed by a number of indicators that (most) economists agree on such as inflation and various consumption and labour reports released by the state. My borrowed copy of Economics 1A confirmed this to be a fact.

However, theory and practice are far removed from one another as a quick Google search revealed. Approximately 99% of independant forex traders go insolvent. In the words of famous economist John Maynard Keynes, 'The markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.'
From what I can see, this is largely due to over leveraging of their positions however I have decided to put a hold (excuse the economic pun) on this exercise and rather pursue safer investment options...

A quick study of the investment climate in South Africa reveals a few key features for young(ish), bull(ish) investors:

-The JSE is at an all time high. Investing in equity would be foolish at this time.
- Gold is tracking down from a thirty year high. The opportunity might present itself in the coming future however the downward trend looks to continue for the near future.

Currency still appeals to me. And while I have ruled out the heavily volatile forex market, investing in hard currency might? be the way to go. The Chinese Renminbi interests me no end. The currency is pegged (fixed and currently floating) against the USD and in many economists perspectives is undervalued.

What would happen if the peg was removed? Despite the HUGE implications for world trade, would the yuan appreciate enough to beat the deflationary effect over time?

I think it might.

Studying and Teaching

I haven't posted anything in a long time. I mean a very long time.

So what have I been up to? Very much actually. I am learning to ice-skate. Not that 'go around in circles with a hoard of other people' type of skating but rather the break a rib 'learning to skate backwards and hockey stop' kind of skating. It's fun.

Sailing. I have been exploring Johannesburg's Ocean, both on my dad's small yacht (Dream One) as well as racing on a friends bigger, faster, more streamlined yacht (Easy Beat). We have experienced gale force winds on two occasions, once during a regatta on Easy Beat. The strong winds worked to our advantage - great fun! On another occasion, 9km from home, on the much smaller Dream One, just my girlfriend as crew - not so much fun!

 My honours degree is nearing completion (Political Science) and next year I am going to Taiwan or China (haven't decided which one just yet) to teach English. Watch this space. In the meantime I am learning mandarin.

Ni hen xihuan hoor kafe, xien bo xien?

In the meantime, I fill my days with tutoring at the University as well as the large amount of studying that comes with doing an honours degree. In between all of this, I have completed my TESOL certification at the WITS Language School (and got a job there!) as well as learnt to slackline!

The TESOL course was much more challenging than learning to slackline (these two activities are, of course, comparable). It involved very little motor coordination (something I am good at) and a lot more speaking (something which I find more challenging). However the TESOL course was more rewarding because I am yet to have taught a Somali refugee how to slackline.

The Wits Language School offers free lessons to refugees from across Africa as a part of their community outreach. As a new teacher, teaching these lessons proved invaluable to both my growing as a teacher and my sense of involvement in helping out in the community. It was extremely enriching to see these students (many of whom could barely speak English to begin with) grow in their ability and confidence so that by the end of the course it was possible to have a conversation with them in English!

Seems a bit bland without pictures. The new GoPro is out in October, so until then... Use your imaginations!

PSY the poet

If you ever wondered what Gangam style is all about... Without all the choruses it reads like a Leonard Cohen poem - if he was smitten and had an extremely basic grasp of the English language.

-

A girl who is warm and humanly during the day
A classy girl who know how to enjoy the freedom of a cup of coffee
A girl whose heart gets hotter when night comes
A girl with that kind of twist


I’m a guy
A guy who is as warm as you during the day
A guy who one-shots his coffee before it even cools down
A guy whose heart bursts when night comes
That kind of guy

A girl who looks quiet but plays when she plays
A girl who puts her hair down when the right time comes
A girl who covers herself but is more sexy than a girl who bares it all
A sensable girl like that

I’m a guy
A guy who seems calm but plays when he plays
A guy who goes completely crazy when the right time comes
A guy who has bulging ideas rather than muscles
That kind of guy

On top of the running man is the flying man, baby baby
I’m a man who knows a thing or two
On top of the running man is the flying man, baby baby
I’m a man who knows a thing or two

Driving lessons

I have always considered myself a fairly proficient driver. That's a lie - I am quite confident that I am the best there is on gods green earth. Years of commuting from the East Rand, which isn't exactly the center of the universe has grounded me in the art.

Jade and I at the ICC

And so I was quietly confident and a little excited when I got offered the opportunity to do some real 'student work'. Fly down to Durban and drive some self indulged golf day patrons around in top end Beamers all day. And then sit on the beach and drink beer while they hacked their way around Serengeti (sic) golf estate.

It turned into an amazing weekend spent with my girlfriend (who organised the 'work' for me). I have however come back with a new respect for just how primitive my baby Volksie polo is in comparison to these behemoths of the road.

Being given the key to a BMW 550 for the first time, one does not simply jump in and put their sheets to the wind. First you need to locate the key slot. I spent five futile minutes devoted to this task before being told by a bemused looking car attendant that it had key less start.

'Right,' I nodded as if I had known this all along and was testing him, 'To the off!' and I reached forward and pumped the engine start button. But to no avail. Foot on the brake, try again.

Eventually I had the extremely quiet 5 liter engine humming gently and hoping against hope that the car wouldn't once again thwart my efforts to get going, I applied some gas.

My first attempt at reverse parking an X6 - with German precision!

The car immediately started beeping in an aggressive manner and the heads up display gave me the evil eye. The hand brake was still up I was told from the now laughing attendant who thrust his head through the open window to give me guidance.

 Eventually... I eased away from the fleet pickup, ego slightly tarnished but ready for a weekend of aggressive driving that had more than a few other close shaves in million rand vehicles.

if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.

if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.

don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

 - Charles Bukowski