The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia was definitely worth the bus ride out from Vancouver, despite a lack of sleep from partying the night before. The sheer genius and brilliant craftsmanship of the face masks on display from all over the world quickly woke me up and had me enthralled. This museum proved to be much better than the often tacky displays on offer at the museum in Victoria, despite all the hype about the latter in the Lonely Planet guide I was carrying.

Tragic to see that one of the few places I can easily find First Nations artifacts is in a museum/mausoleum. The other is in and along the overly touristy galleries of Gastown, where a small wall hanging by an indigenous artist can easily sell for a thousand dollars.

Brings new life to the old expression "He's got me by the b#$%!". This kind of attention to detail adds a very human element to the embrace.

An imposing entry to a Squammish tribal home.

The face we show to others is often a pale, reduced version of the real identity hidden away beneath it. Connecting with other people can be thwart with the distractions of a large group, blaring background music, feeling on edge and vulnerable. This huge, First-Nations sculpture summed up so well the ennui and angst of modern living even though that's probably not what was originally intended, and was most likely made in a small, tranquil coastal community over a hundred years ago. Or maybe that wasn't the case with the rapid dissolution of tribal life and health at the mercy of invaders carrying smallpox and weapons over the space of a few decades. Wouldn't mind talking to the original carver to find out what message he/she wanted to convey. If only...

Vancouver Bound

My first glimpse of British Columbia in Canada. After the endless concrete and manmade gimmickry of Tokyo I was mesmerized, sipping morning coffee through the plane window and getting itchy feet, thinking of all those rugged peaks, pristine forests, and skiable slopes that awaited.

The famous sails of the massive convention center overlooking the harbour - Sydney Opera house rip-off, don't you think?

Stanley Park is a huge, overgrown park just west of the downtown area. I had a fantastic time on my mountain bike grooving around the bike paths through the forest and along the shoreline - very exhilirating. I even managed to narrowly avoid running over my first racoon - just as well it wasn't a skunk. I'm going to bicycle my way around new sights as much as I can in the future. It's a welcome change from the sedentary pace of walking and brings new obstacles and challenges that make it more rewarding. Give me more bike paths in Seoul, please.

The North shore of Vancouver is closer to the wilderness and endless skiing opportunities just 30 minutes away from downtown. There aren't so many major cities in the world that offer wilderness on the doorstep to a city. As the hollywood superstars and celebrities such as Oprah move in with get-away villas perched high up in the mountains, rents and real-estate in Vancouver have even overtaken those of Toronto. Ouch!

The totem poles in Stanley Park remind me of the 'Changsung' poles that traditional protect villagers at the entrance to rural towns in South Korea. We are, after all, talking about a similar original ancestory of both Koreans and Native American Indians, which is though to be Mongolia. Shamanism and witch doctors, local wildlife imbued with spiritual powers, the protective powers of totems - there are incredible similarities harking back to a shared ancestory.

Sydney, Auckland and Vancouver all seem to share a certain resemblance with plenty of mariners, coastline, residential highrise apartments, sense of modernity, mild climate, and laid-back ways. I could certainly settle here for a while.

On the 6th of Feb I stopped over in Tokyo for a few days to break up my flight to Vancouver and check out how much the place has changed over the last seven years since the days when I worked here.
I've always wanted to spend a night in the Sheraton overlooking Ueno park. My architect sister would love the interesting dynamic capsule look of the place that has a resemblance to the models she used to make while at uni. Sadly it was a bit out of my price range so I settled for a nice, claustrophobic coffin at the local capsule motel, instead.

Tokyo has now outgrown even Mexico City as the most populated city on earth, having swallowed up satellite cities such as Yokohama. I felt incredibly insignificant living here in 1999 compared with the more liveable and intimate scale of Osaka. It's an overwhelming place for me, wonderful to visit but oppressive to settle down in.

The Mori art gallery inside Roppongi Hills is becoming justly famous for its location at the pinnacle of the main tower, and there are great views of the megalopolis that is Tokyo from on high.

Outside the new Roppongi Hills central tower there is a huge metallic spider sculpture - very "War of the Worlds," although I'm sure the Italian sculptor would refuse to acknowledge the association.

Tokyo was a place where I have to confess that I spent one of the lowest periods in my life. I was working for 6 months at the NOVA institute pictured in the foreground on the left - 10 floors of hell, eight hours of gruelling teaching per day with 5 minutes to evaluate student files and find the next class files in between classes trying desperately not to collide with other teachers over the filing cabinets. I must confess I have it a lot easier at my university gig in Korea. There's no going back to NoVacation Nova.