The beach was almost empty, which was surprising given the warmth, and the fact that hours earlier there had been almost a million people crammed on to the little stretch of white sand. But now it was four in the morning and the sun had not yet begun to show. The temperature was perfect, though: not too hot, not too cold, and not threatening to go either way until midday pulled around. The moon lit the beach, and the water was perfect. For Jack and Edward, this was prime beach time in B...

 Indeed, it may be “the cabbage you can ravage with the chilli paste taste,” but kimchi isn’t that amazing. I mean, taste is subjective and everything, but can anything really be so awesome that an entire nation of people could be obsessed with it? Even in America people vary their fast-food diets. One day it’s fried chicken and the next it’s hamburgers, and sometimes it’s a pizza. But in Korea, people are so crazy about kimchi that it goes beyond ridi...

 I didn’t bother trying to learn Korean in my first five or six months here. It seemed like a mammoth task that just didn’t appeal to me. Sure, I hated being the idiot foreigner that couldn’t express himself or ask for anything he wanted, but I didn’t realistically see that changing within my time in Korea anyway. Whenever I heard a Korean person speaking English, they’d say things like “I’m learning English for eight years,” and ...

 I spent New Year in Beijing, searching for Communism in post-Olympic China. I couldn’t really find it.   China is a nation of over one billion cheap hustlers and hookers with hearts of fake Olympic gold. They seem united by lies and delusions of superiority, or maybe these are not delusions at all. China is huge in every sense. It is overwhelming. And it is nothing, nothing like you can imagine until you’ve been there. Yet, until recent that wasn’t really the done...

 ‘I think I’m a racist.’ ‘You’re right. I’ve noticed it for a while now.’ ‘Is it a bad thing? I think it’s a bad thing…’ ‘Everyone’s a little racist. But it’s like going crazy. The fact that you notice probably means you’re not all that racist, y’know?’ ‘I guess. I don’t want to be racist.’ ‘Nobody wants to be racist.’ ‘I just hate Koreans.’ &ls...

Moalboal is a motorbike town. In fact, damn near the whole of Cebu is bent on biking along the hellish & beautiful little roads. Buses hurtle along the side of the cliffs now and then, carrying those who for some reason are without two wheels, but overall, it’s bikes that rule the road. The closest thing to a car in this poor part of the world are the tricycles that whisk the diving tourists from beach to beach. These are operated by gangs of young, bored men, who play cards and fi...

Seamless endeavour of the thoughtless kind

Frederick sat on his purple double bed, reading Paul Auster and listening to the newest Indie download. A strong breeze blew through his window, but he didn’t mind. The temperature between breezes was almost thirty Celsius and the wind was a welcome cool on his bare chest. Every five minutes he’d put his book down on the sheets and lean out of his window, camera readied and notepad primed for action. Mostly, nothing happened. His was a quiet street, set back from Daegu’s main East-West road, ...

Koranic verses scrawled in blood on halls of morbid dancing sloth The red head tabloids screaming hate at ignorant fucks every day Never loving one another and bashful in our oaths to exist Crying out for solace in a world that we make unfit Trying patience without patience ourselves is a crime we all commit Loathing nothing more than all that we see and hold as kin Invisible men and women walk the streets absorbed in themselves A tragic fate immersed in the rank stench of the founding princi...

Rolling brown mountainside tree tops Cacti sea turn back on thyself, Morro Rocks top valley down and all go Clark Farm sued big time for road Asshole millionaire from Hong Kong Love you long time, bitch wife Green top free fall church built house And mansion on the hill, cart drive Wave and say hello, don’t swear Football dust storm strawberry field Cooler tanks water bottle Mexican Burrito for lunch, eh? Chilli pepper And coffee and a litre of bod-ka Corn field cutting machete man In dirt bo...