Journeys of Other Kinds

This post was originally published in Heaven On Earth in March 2024 and republished in Journeys of Other Kinds as Part I of "Oh, Canada" trilogy in July 2026. When people talk about homelessness in big cities, they often picture people living on the streets - people struggling with addiction, mental illness, or poverty. My recent experience returning to Vancouver showed me another side of homelessness: people who are working, studying, or waiting for opportunities, but who cannot find a place they can afford to live. Let me share what I experienced after returning to Vancouver, Canada two weeks ago. For the first three days, I stayed at an AirBNB place in Burnaby and met a couple of Iranian visitors who were waiting for their work visas to be issued. One of them ended up staying in a shelter for men in New Westminster because he couldn't afford to pay $45 CAD/night for a bed at the AirBNB place for more than two weeks. I moved to a hostel in Jericho Beach just outside UBC...

Originally published  in April 2024 on Heaven on Earth, this passage was revised for republication as Part II of "Oh, Canada." trilogy on Journeys of Other Kinds in July 2026. In the past couple of years, I encountered a number of temporary residents whose visas had expired. These were people who entered Canada before the border lockdown in March 2020 and later became undocumented, either by choice or because of the backlog in visa extension applications. While most international students, foreign workers, and working holiday visa holders returned home during the lockdown, some "migrants" remained in Canada without status. Between July 2020 and the writing of this piece, I crossed paths with more than a dozen people in this situation, often because I was renting basement suites and sharing common space with them. Three encounters stood out enough that I want to recount them here, not as a representative sample, but as the experiences that shaped how I think about th...

This passage was originally published as Per Capita Recession on Heaven on Earth blog in August 2024. It was revised for republication on Journeys of Other Kinds blog as Part III of  "Oh, Canada." trilogy in July 2026. I had forgotten about my dialogue with ChatGPT 4.0 less than two years ago after seeing the term "per capita recession" on CBC News. Looking back at the 2024 analysis, I could see that the warning signs were entirely accurate. Canada’s economic growth was an illusion propped up by unprecedented population scaling. Today, we are living through the consequences of ignoring that structural productivity crisis. Canada is in a recession in June 2026. True economic stability requires deep investments in innovation, value-added industries, and public infrastructure—not temporary, short sighted band-aids that dilute our living standards. Here is the exact macro-analysis ChatGPT generated in 2024, followed by my original counter-proposals: "While Canada ...

  This passage was originally published in Heaven on Earth blog in August 2015 and republished as Part I of "One World" duology in Journeys of Other Kinds blog in July 2026. For some strange reasons, the lyrics of this 1970's song got stuck in my head all these years. I was singing the song while doing other household tasks in the past week. I pondered about the lyrics which might sound too improbable at first. Later I could see that the fictional lyrics was actually a parody of what happened in real life.  Greed is obviously the motivation of the valley people to kill the mountain people and claim the treasure as their own. What if these valley people investigate the rumour first, would that war still happen? Why would the valley people believe that they deserve to possess the treasure buried in the mountain, especially after killing the rightful owners?  Seventy years ago today (August 15th, 1945), Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Forces. It was just nine da...

  Original post was published on June 7, 2026 in my Heaven on Earth blog and republished as Part II of "One World" Duology in Journeys of Other Kinds in July 2026. Yesterday marked an important anniversary. June 6, 1944, was D-Day, the largest seaborne invasion in history, when Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy to begin the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupation. I visited Le Mémorial de Caen in Normandy, France, last September. I was moved to tears when I saw the flags of the Allied nations outside the museum.   Fast forward to the present, there are even more wars happening around the world than eight months ago. My heart aches for periods when the world seemed more hopeful and stable than it does today.  When we were children, we could share space and resources. We compromised and took turns to get on the swings in the playground. We saw more similarities than differences in ourselves and our friends. We were more willing to accept each other a...

  This passage was originally published in Heaven On Earth in July 2013 and republished as Part I of "Journey of Tao" trilogy in Journeys of Other Kinds in July 2026. "If someone tells you that you are a "squeezer of limes" in Hindi, don't be flattered. The idiom means you are a self-invited or an idler. - Jag Bhalla, author of National Geographic's I'm Not Hanging Noodles On Your Ears When I saw the above statement in an Indian travel guide book, I could not understand why lime squeezers were considered idlers in India. I searched the term "lime juice" online and got an answer. According to Wikipedia, India is the top producer of limes in the world. Limes are so abundant in India that squeezing limes would be just a way of killing time producing a worthless commodity. Sometimes we have down times not by choice. I was involved in a near fatal bicycle accident a few months ago. I have been recovering at home because of my mobility issues. ...

  This passage was originally published in Heaven On Earth in July 2013 and republished as Part II of "Journey of Tao" trilogy in Journeys of Other Kinds in July 2026. In preparation for my trip to India in September, I was applying for a tourist visa. Even though there is a consulate office in Vancouver, regular tourist visa applications were outsourced to private companies two years ago. After filling out an application form on line, I took the hard copy to the recommended private company for processing. Two visits to the visa office later, my visa application was still not processed. I had a similar experience applying for a Russian visa two years ago. The complex requirements for the Russian visa seemed more palatable since Russia was formerly a communist country where people's movements were restricted and closely monitored. I simply could not understand why an Indian visa application could not be processed because the size of the photo was not exactly 51 mm x 51 mm ...

  This passage was originally published in "Heaven on Earth" in June 2022 and republished as Part III of the Journey of the Tao trilogy in "Journeys of Other Kinds" in July 2026.   I was delighted to learn a new word on Facebook a couple of weeks ago: spuddling . Although it sounds faintly derogatory, it describes my current lifestyle with remarkable accuracy. In fact, I sometimes think I could write a book on the subject. After deciding to retire early in 2011, the course of my life changed irrevocably. At first, I was bored out of my mind. I went from juggling multiple jobs and studying constantly to a barely simmering existence. I did not appreciate this newfound freedom. Instead, I searched for activities that would make me appear busy to the outside world. Gradually, however, I turned inward and focused on simplifying my life and improving my health. By the summer of 2013, my possessions had been reduced to a few suitcases of clothing, several boxes of books, a...

This post was originally published in Heaven on Earth in May 2016 and was republished as Part I of "Extracurricular Activities in Vancouver" trilogy in Journeys of Other Kinds in July 2026. As a last resort to find a travel companion for my next journey, I put up an ad on Craigslist. I browsed through the personals regularly. I found the ads rather amusing. In the STRICTLY PLATONIC section, I saw the following ads under the subsection of m4w : I am a man looking for a woman to have phone sex with. I don't want to know your real name or ever want to meet. If you are a woman interested in phone sex for fun, shoot me a message including your phone # and when u would like to talk. No pics. I am looking for any Women who might be into making a new Friend/Cuddle Partner this long weekend... I am a fun white athletic single male who lives alone and looking for a woman who is into that. Let me know more and lets hangout and cuddle this long weekend :) i was reading this newspaper...

This passage was originally published in Heaven on Earth in July 2016 and republished as Part II of "Extracurricular Activities in Vancouver" Trilogy in Journeys of Other Kinds in July 2026. During the past three months, I had been volunteering at various community events and celebrations. I have had many opportunities to talk and work with high school and post-secondary students. Because I don't have any children, I am not clued into the latest development in BC high school curriculum. I learned a few things from these youths. When I asked a Grade 8 student one Sunday afternoon in early June the reason for his volunteering, he replied that he already had two detentions in the last week because he has not fulfilled the requirements of thirty hours in volunteering per school year. He had to complete thirty hours of volunteering before his summer holidays could start in three weeks' time. This young man was driven by his father to the relatively remote site where the ev...

This passage was originally published in Heaven on Earth in August 2018, and was republished as Part III of 'Extracurricular Activities in Vancouver" in Journeys of Other Kinds in July 2026. Two years ago when I was spending nine months living in Vancouver as a retiree, I volunteered at many community events and research studies at the university. My main goal was to keep myself busy. I spent a fairly large amount of money on transportation costs, and did my shifts in places that I had not visited previously. To my chagrin, I did not always feel appreciated, effective or useful. So when I returned to Vancouver last fall after a six month journey, I decided that I would not volunteer at those community events again. I would do something different this time around. Karma is a boomerang. I started the "A good deed a day" project last October. The objective is to build positive karma and not to incur related costs as much as possible. I wanted to do something that would ...

This passage was originally published in "Heaven on Earth" in November 2016 and republished in "Journeys of Other Kinds" as Part I of `Love Thy Neighbour` Trilogy in July 2026. The American people are going to elect their 45th president in two days. The fate of the country and the world for a large part will be affected by the results of this election. My prayers are with the people of the United States of America. According to the 2014 report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), nine nations - the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea - possess approximately 16,300 nuclear weapons in total. Russia and the United States have reduced their inventories but still account for more than 93% of all operational nuclear warheads. As an "insurance" measure, the "Norwegian Nobel Committee decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 was to be awarded to President Barack Obama f...

This passage was originally published in Heaven On Earth  in January 2017 and was republished as Part II of `Love Thy Neighbour` Trilogy in Journeys of Other Kinds in July 2026. Dear Neighbours: You have a new boss in the White House now. I listened attentively to his seventeen minute speech after he took the Oath of office, and I took notes. I am glad that President Trump openly made promises to improve the quality of life for the regular folk and to let the government be controlled by the people again. "You will never be ignored again," he said. He promised great schools, great jobs and safe neighbourhoods. He would endeavor to make U.S.A. strong, wealthy, proud and safe again, and most of all, GREAT again. He outlined how he was going to rebuild your country. President Trump encouraged Americans to think big and dream big. He encouraged Americans to open their hearts and be patriotic. He stated that racial prejudice would not exist if American people are patriotic. However...

This passage was originally published in `Heaven On Earth`in June 2018 and republished as Part III of `Love Thy Neighbour` Trilogy in ``Journeys of Other Kinds`` in July 2026.  Canada has been selling its natural resources to its great neighbour at rock bottom prices. Now that President Trump is fed up of being taken advantage of by Canada, these natural resources such as steel, lumber, oil and gas, electricity can just stay in Canada or be exported to other countries where there are no or less tariffs. USA, on the other hand, will become truly self-sufficient and use up some of their own natural resources. Recently, U.S.A. quit UN Human Rights Council, quoting that it is a cesspool of political biases. Coincidentally, the announcement came after the UN condemned Israel's excessive use of force on Palestinian civilians in Gaza and near the border. I vaguely recall that over 100 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured during the protests against the new US Embassy opening in ...

This passage was originally published in "Heaven on Earth" in January 2017 and republished as Part I of Technology Rhapsody Trilogy in "Journeys of Other Kinds" in July 2026. A few years ago, my friend volunteered in the annual headcount of homeless people in the City of Vancouver. Afterwards, she commented how many resources were needed to conduct the survey each year because homeless people are transient by nature. I jokingly replied that maybe the provincial government should consider implanting a chip in each of the chronic social benefit recipients who do not have fixed addresses. My friend gave me a dirty look, and said that my suggestion would be opposed by human rights advocates. Back in those days, only wildlife rescue teams would tag recovered animals before releasing them back into the wilderness. Yesterday I came across a documentary exploring issues around RFID chip implants in humans. Apparently, a number of bio-hackers have already had RFID chips imp...