Ways to Earn Swagbucks (part 1)

Swagbucks gives you money for doing daily activities in the form of gift cards. It is not a scam!

This includes searching the internet (just as google!) and doing tasks for them.

Sign up with this referral code to get 70 extra swagbucks! (Click the link!)
swagbucks.com/refer/thescorp1onk1ng

Best Japanese Restaurant in Vancouver!

Restaurants are a lot of the time hit or miss. That is, unless you know the in's and out's of a city. Well my friends, Do I have a treat for you! This is the start of getting to know the city of Vancouver and the best affordable places to eat. Some of these gems are hidden, so share them with your friends!

Best traditional Japanese restaurant: Hi Genki

http://www.fujiya.ca/aboutFujiya/hiGenkiRestaurant.asp

this gem is located inside the Japanese Nikkei Home for the elderly, and beside the National Nikkei Heritage Centre. For around 8-12 dollars for a huge portion of good japanese foods, it is the best place in town.

Located at the corner of Kingsway and Sperling in Burnaby, at the geographic centre of the Greater Vancouver area, the Hi Genki restaurant is easily accessible by both automobile and transit. There is underground public parking available for the National Nikkei Heritage Centre and Nikkei Home.

youtube loves embedded vids/links

Apparently, Youtube loves embedded vids and links. It will get your videos ranked higher in the youtube search engine, and even higher up on google! So, let's embed 2 to test this theory out.

UFO sighting over Hawaii Military Base

Funny Japanese Robot Spills Beer

KONY 2012: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

KONY 2012

This is the hottest trend right now. With over 14.9 million view on Vimeo and 27.6 million views on youtube (and counting), Invisible Children have created the fastest spreading viral video of all time.

Here is what you should know. There is always the good, the bad, and the ugly side to this issue, and there will always be.

The Good: Awareness
What is good about Kony 2012 is that it brings awareness to the horror that most 1st world nations would not see. Kony has committed many crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, abduction etc. He does take young boys to force them to become soldiers, even killing their own family members. He does take young girls to be sex slaves.The bottom line is that Joseph Kony is a bad guy and yes, he should be stopped.

The Bad: Invisible Children
Invisible Children has faced much criticism with its organization. Not only do they have massive administrative costs, in their 2011 budget, only about 31% of their actual funds received goes toward charitable purposes. Yes, I do realize that costs for this campaign are quite high, however advocating the sale of t-shirts ($25), bracelets ($10), and action kits ($30) seem unneccissary in order to join their efforts. Also, Kony 2012 follows the life of Jason Russel and his son, which adds an emotional dimension into the film which urges viewers to help. It also uses a lot of visual effects and subliminal messages, much like a lot of other propoganda. The film uses social media to target many of the celebrities. With more fame comes more money. It is a sleek marketing campaign.
Sure, the company has flaws, but they're working towards a good cause right? Take a look at the facts, do some research and you'll see that Joseph Kony has not been as active as the film advocates.

The Ugly: Deceit
Uganda does not need more war. The film advocates the mobilization of the United States army. But is that really what Uganda needs? Why are you donating money so that more soldiers can be sent to Uganda? This would do much more harm to Uganda than benefit. The Ugandan government would rather you send money for humanitarian aid, not more military help which they don't even want. You think that once you take Kony out, the problem is solved? Don't you think there are other people going to step into his place? Of course, it would help take down the LRA but it won't solve 25 years of problems.
"Presently, the operations of the LRA have nearly dissolved and their presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is difficult to verify. While the pro-war filmmakers behind KONY 2012 naively call for the US military to assert its place in the conflict, an independent fact finding mission would be far more effective in assessing the seriousness of the LRA threat in the present day."
-Nile Bowie

The threat is low. Maybe we should be helping the farmers seed their crops and the children get a better education. Not to make war to end a war that has simmered since 2006. Joseph Kony will be brought to justice, his lifetime is only so long.

Conclusion:
So there is some validity in Kony 2012, yet not all of it is as dramatic and urgent as it seems. The skill of this marketing technique is unlike many I have seen, and because Invisible Children advocates for something good, it creates a grey area where the misinformed are easily caught. Do your research. Google it. As for me, I appreciate the awarness but I disagree with the method. There are many other charities doing a lot of the same things as Invisible Children, and not spending their money to make a video to make more money for the organization. They actually send money to help. There is a better way!

Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/9131469/Joseph-Kony-2012-growing-outrage-in-Uganda-over-film.html
http://endthelie.com/2012/03/08/exposing-kony-2012-phony-youth-movement-promotes-us-military-presence-in-africa/
http://www.kony2012.com/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/08/kony-2012-video-raises-5m/

Best sushi on the North Shore

Hello friends :)

YAY, I'm finally going to post my first blog! Since I have a great passion for food, I decided that I will share my experiences with the best sushi places that Vancouver can offer in the Lower Mainland.There are numerous Japanese restaurants, but only a few are worth the price with the quality of the food. Whether you want big portions, or smaller ones, good quality, affordable pricing, Vancouver has it all. But I decided that I'll only talk about one today and compare it with some other restaurants that I've been to. Yesterday, Ben and I went snowboarding at Cypress and afterwards, I was craving sushi so we decided to go to Yuko Maki in North Vancouver located on Lonsdale! It has actually become one of our favourite go-to places for sushi. Our dearest North Shore friends introduced us to the place and now we love it! Not only is it cheap, but it gives you decent amount of food. Our North Shore friends call it Yuckie Muckies, and this is what we ate...

I always have to order salmon sashimi whenever I go out for sushi, the good thing about the ones at Yuko Maki's is that they slice big pieces of sashimi, they're bigger than the ones at Sushi Town. There is only one other place that I know that gives you large pieces of sashimi, and it's called Banzai in Richmond on Westminster Hwy. My Richmond friends would call it "garbage" because their house rolls are massive, reasonably priced and you can get full from one roll.

For salad, I always order wakame aka "seaweed salad" on Yuko Maki's menu. This was $3.50 and it came with a lot of salad. It looks like we ate a lot of it very quickly because this came first :) The texture and the taste of it is very good, if you never tried it, I suggest you do! I think it tastes way better than the ones you can buy at local supermarkets such as T&T.

This was my dinner, I had two salmon maki's and a chopped scallop cone. Sushi special itself was only $5.95! You can choose 3 rolls, but since I love salmon, this is what I ended up with. There were other really good rolls too such as Negitoro Roll, or Yam Tempura Roll, Tuna Maki, etc. The chopped scallop cone came with cucumbers and it was actually nicely wrapped with rice from the bottom tip of the cone to the top! This sushi special also came with a miso soup.

Ben decided to get a bento box. I think Yuko Maki is known for this because it is super cheap and it comes with so much food. There was tempura and the sauce, california roll, chicken teriyaki on rice, salad, and an orange. This was definitely a filling meal for Ben and it was only for $5.95! Other places such as Tentatsu on Hastings would have these boxes for around $6.95 or more.

Finally, this was our bill. It was definitely very filling and satisfied my sushi craving! Hope you guys will eventually check this place out sometime if you love sushi, I think you'll like it :) Thanks to all my friends for introducing me to this restaurant, and kudos for making me want to go back every time I go to the North Shore.












- CW

The Walking Dead

(no spoilers!) Why is the walking dead so entertaining?

The walking dead is entertaining because it deals with morality issues. It is a show that is designed for the audience to ask the question: Is that the correct choice? These choices only get more and more difficult because the lines between good and evil are blurred. I find this show incredibly enjoyable because it challenges me as a Christian to see what I would do. Sometimes, the correct choice will bring very bad consequences and the wrong choice will solve all the problems.

This show plays on many of the themes found in the bible. Many links can be formed between the show's major themes and Christianity. It talks about human nature and how we are inherently evil. Without a God, we would not know the difference between right and wrong. Yet we feel that there is a morally "right" or "wrong" answer to each decision the characters on the walking dead have to make. Can humanity truly choose what is right for ourselves? I don't believe so. We are mortal people and dwell in a world of sin. In the eyes of a Christian, it is even more difficult to draw the line between good and evil because we know what is good but do not do good, and we know what is bad but crave it and pursue it.

The Walking Dead begs the question: What if this happens to you? The funny thing is that it does!!! In this world, we have an apocalyptic world full of zombies to bring out the raw emotion of life pushed to the limit. Yet in our society, we face the same issues. The questions of survival of the fittest. We are self centered beings, we are stubborn, we fight against what is good and we have it all twisted around.

The Walking Dead shows us that we struggle in sin. We will always struggle with it yet Jesus Christ came to die on the cross, so that whoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life. Is life more important, or doing what is right? We fight to live in this life, yet Jesus died so that we may live eternally. Do not fight for your life, or money, or status. Fight for what is right, then by faith you will be saved through Jesus Christ. Die to sin, and be alive in Christ, then you will inherit eternal life.

From my eyes, that is the walking dead.

MC Jin is my inspiration

@iammcjin #YOGO #NoFanZone #AIYA

Picture taken from MC Jin's blog!

MC Jin is a battle rapper turned christian, and now he uses his gifts for the gospel. I know, I never had the thug life, or have ever lived on the streets, but I do have a thing for hip hop. I don't think hip hop in itself is wrong (for all you old people), but it can be used offensively.

Jin is my hero (yes, even more so than Lights...) and even though I can't spit rhymes, we're working towards the same purpose.

Maybe someday he'll come to Willingdon! (now that Dan Hamhuis has come, the sky is the limit!)

You should check him out!

Click here for MC Jin's new track!

Click here for MC Jin's blog!

(his blog and youtube have free download links!)

Enjoy!