1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,200 What on earth is wrong with you? 2 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:05,240 I mean, I'm sitting here marveling at the fact that, 3 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:09,960 you know, this adventurous sense of yours, 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:11,760 you know, risking yourself being thrown 5 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:13,600 into a North Korean gulag. 6 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:16,400 Now this other place. 7 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:17,240 Soviet gulag. 8 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:20,960 Yeah, a Soviet gulag, when Soviet Union is already gone, 9 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,600 and be tortured by a North Korean prison guard, 10 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,400 tickling the balls of a spicy kimchi 11 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:26,600 for the rest of your life. 12 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:28,800 Ooh. 13 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,360 In my studio today, I've got this person. 14 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:34,840 I'm meeting for the first time, I kid you not. 15 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:37,560 I swear, really, I've never met this guy before. 16 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:39,880 He's actually now seated on my right. 17 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:41,560 I'm not gonna pan the camera to him yet, 18 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,760 but I gotta tell you the reason why this young man 19 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,040 is in the CCB TV studio right now, 20 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,840 on my show, The Chris Hansen Conversation. 21 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,960 He is what we would call an intrepid traveler. 22 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,880 This is the episode that I'm coining as that one 23 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:00,560 with a big kahunas. 24 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,200 And I will tell you why this guy 25 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,160 has probably got bigger kahunas than me, 26 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,240 as the story goes, because I like to collect stories, 27 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,240 and this guy's got stories to tell. 28 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,880 And with me in the studio right now is John Yao. 29 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:17,840 Welcome to the show. 30 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:18,680 Hello. 31 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:19,560 Thanks for being here, man. 32 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:20,400 Thank you for inviting me. 33 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:21,720 You look so young. 34 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:22,920 I am jealous. 35 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:23,960 What the fuck? 36 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:25,200 How old are you, man? 37 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:26,400 You look young as well. 38 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:27,240 No, no, no, no. 39 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:28,080 Definitely, definitely. 40 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:28,920 I'm not kidding. 41 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:29,880 You heard the story of Pinocchio? 42 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:30,920 No, it's getting longer, my friend. 43 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:32,040 No, it's the same. 44 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,280 Really, I mean it, I mean it. 45 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:35,200 Thank you for the compliment. 46 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,280 But you look really, really young. 47 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:38,120 How old are you? 48 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:38,960 I'm 30. 49 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:40,880 I'm 39. 50 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:42,040 That's not that fucking young. 51 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:43,360 Going to be 29. 52 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:44,200 Going to be 29? 53 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:45,160 Okay, that's young. 54 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:46,560 30, not that young anymore. 55 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:47,920 You know this friend of ours that we know, 56 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:49,040 his name is Ben? 57 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:49,880 Right. 58 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:50,840 He's no longer young, he's an old cock. 59 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:52,480 Yeah, here we go. 60 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,560 All right, so you're the intrepid traveler. 61 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:57,760 I'm calling you the intrepid traveler. 62 00:01:57,760 --> 00:01:59,440 I've heard from certain quarters, 63 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:00,840 and of course from our mutual friend about you, 64 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,080 this is the reason why you're here. 65 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,480 And because I've heard that you really 66 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,160 make it such a habit to get around. 67 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,280 Yeah, kind of, actually. 68 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,800 Can it be said that you actually live out of your luggage? 69 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:21,800 Actually, to be honest, I was actually a homely boy. 70 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:24,320 So to put a long story short, 71 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:25,720 I try to make it a corner line. 72 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:27,480 No, no, no, you can give me a long story, man. 73 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:28,320 This is what it's all about. 74 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:29,160 It's a long story. 75 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:30,160 It's okay, I collect stories. 76 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:31,960 So I used to be a homely boy. 77 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:33,440 I liked to stay at home. 78 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:35,240 And when I was in secondary school, 79 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:36,640 I didn't like to go out at all. 80 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:40,360 I was very like the exact opposite of what I was, 81 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,200 I would consider myself today. 82 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,520 So because I didn't like to talk, 83 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:46,400 I didn't like to socialize, even at school, 84 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,720 I wouldn't exactly talk to anyone. 85 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:56,120 And I would have recess sometimes, most of the time alone. 86 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,520 Yeah, it's pretty much just about my kind of lifestyle 87 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:01,360 in secondary school. 88 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,880 So I would just go home after school 89 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:05,800 and my mom would be at home. 90 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:06,640 She's a housewife. 91 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:09,520 So we would be like, okay, we watch our own TV. 92 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:10,840 I watch her TV. 93 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,240 So yeah, so she liked to watch Cantonese shows. 94 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:15,360 So that's where I would know my past time. 95 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,960 What's my past time, people ask me actually. 96 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:19,760 Watching Cantonese serials. 97 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:21,920 We're like, song hoi tan ah. 98 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:23,080 Something like that, you know. 99 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:23,920 Sen wang zhu la ma. 100 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:25,240 Follow fart and all this. 101 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:26,080 Right. 102 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,880 So, and moving on to poly, 103 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:30,560 that was when things got a little bit better. 104 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:32,960 I started to talk a little bit more. 105 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,440 So 17 was like for many people is like, 106 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:37,920 whoa, they're really very prime 107 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:39,520 into this social life and everything. 108 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:40,760 For me, that was the beginning. 109 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:41,680 Right. Yeah. 110 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:43,640 And it wasn't until a few years later, 111 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:46,360 which was about back in 2018, 112 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,240 then I started this traveling bug 113 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:49,440 actually started hitting me. 114 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:51,440 How so? How did it all begin? 115 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,800 So before this, I was always at home watching YouTube 116 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:55,640 about travel. 117 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:56,480 Oh right, okay. 118 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:57,320 Yeah, about travel stuff. 119 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,600 So, but I wasn't interested to like, 120 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:01,360 to go there, like no. 121 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,720 Just to, I'm fine with like sitting on my couch 122 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:05,400 and watching about it. 123 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,600 So this time in 2018, I was actually working. 124 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:10,640 I moved out home. 125 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:12,320 So I was doing my, with like, 126 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,000 I was renting a room for some other people. 127 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,800 And then I met this friend, a Vietnamese friend at work. 128 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:19,360 So he actually like, 129 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,240 show me to go to Vietnam with him and his friends. 130 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:25,280 So he said like, okay, we're gonna take care of you. 131 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:26,520 Don't have worry about anything. 132 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,160 We'll just do the, you just take your money, you know? 133 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:30,920 But your brain or don't even bring, 134 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:32,400 we'll just, you take care of you. 135 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:33,600 The language barrier is not there. 136 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,320 It sounds as if you're gonna be trafficked, man. 137 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:37,160 Right. Yeah. 138 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:38,400 Yeah. 139 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:39,240 So yeah. 140 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:41,440 I mean, I mean, think about it. 141 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:43,800 You know, you just give me the money. 142 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,000 Then you don't need to use your head. 143 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,160 You just travel with us, right? 144 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,320 And then we will take care of you. 145 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:52,760 How old were you then again? 146 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:54,280 That was five years ago. 147 00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:55,120 I was 24. 148 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:56,600 Okay. No, then it's not trafficking. 149 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:57,440 Don't worry about it. 150 00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:59,160 They go age already. 151 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:01,040 Right. 152 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:01,920 So yeah, 23. 153 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:03,040 Yeah. Okay. 154 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,120 So when there, actually I was like, 155 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:06,960 I didn't want to go. 156 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:08,280 Because I was looking at, 157 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:10,320 at the time I had a very tight budget for everything. 158 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,640 I was saving this money that I was earning for my school. 159 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:14,080 Right. Because I dropped out of poly. 160 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:15,560 So yeah, I actually dropped out of poly. 161 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:17,400 So technically I'm still an old level student. 162 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:18,320 Oh. Yeah. 163 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:19,160 That's my higher school education. 164 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:20,480 So guess what, man? 165 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,160 I, it's me too. 166 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:23,080 Also old level student. 167 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:24,760 Really? Well, yeah. 168 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:25,800 Well, yeah. 169 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:27,040 But I've never made it poly. 170 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:27,880 See, there's a difference. 171 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:29,280 You made it to poly. 172 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:30,480 Barely. Barely. 173 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:31,520 Nobody wanted me. 174 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:32,360 Yeah. Okay. 175 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:33,680 So you dropped out of poly. 176 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:35,760 Me? Don't mind me asking. 177 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,000 What's the reason for you dropping out of poly? 178 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:38,840 It's a stupid reason. 179 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:39,680 There's no reason. 180 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:40,720 Actually, that's the worst thing. 181 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:42,800 Because I didn't like to study and that's it. 182 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:44,440 I go into aviation. 183 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,400 It's like a hybrid between aircraft modules 184 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:48,520 and airport modules. 185 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:49,360 Yeah. 186 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:50,200 Hybrid. 187 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:51,480 So, but I wasn't, I just didn't like to study. 188 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:52,800 It's a pretty good course, right? 189 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:53,640 It's good. 190 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:54,720 People would kill to get in there. 191 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:56,640 Right. So totally wasted. 192 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:58,800 You know, I just didn't want to study and that's it. 193 00:05:58,800 --> 00:05:59,640 Okay. 194 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,200 So I dropped out after about three years. 195 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:02,040 Right. 196 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:03,400 I think one was the worst decision of my life. 197 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:04,400 Three years? 198 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:05,240 Three years, yeah. 199 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:06,280 I flunked two modules. 200 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:07,240 So I was supposed to be, 201 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:08,680 it was supposed to be 3.5. 202 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:09,520 Right. 203 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:10,440 So I flunked two. 204 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:12,280 I decided to do, yeah. 205 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:15,160 Geez, but you were almost at the finishing line. 206 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:16,000 Right. 207 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:16,840 Okay. 208 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:17,680 So yeah. 209 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:18,520 Okay, not judging you. 210 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:19,360 I'm not judging you. 211 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:20,200 No, no, I know. 212 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:21,040 I know it's okay. 213 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:21,880 Yeah. 214 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:22,720 Even if you do, I'm fine. 215 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:23,560 I know that you- 216 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:24,400 No, no, no. 217 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:25,240 I'm in no position to judge. 218 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:26,080 But please do continue. 219 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:27,960 So essentially that was the path I took. 220 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,040 So after this, after NS, I decided, okay, I have to work. 221 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:31,880 Right. 222 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:33,640 And things with family weren't doing too well. 223 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:34,480 Okay. 224 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:36,200 In terms of most aspects. 225 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:37,040 Yeah. 226 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:37,880 So I decided to move out. 227 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:38,720 Right. 228 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:40,480 And I gave this money for my study again. 229 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:41,320 Right. 230 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,120 It's three years late, but for, I thought to myself, 231 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:45,040 I'm still trying to make up for it, right? 232 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:45,880 Right. 233 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,800 So, and then after one year of a full-time job, 234 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:52,720 my parents needed this money. 235 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:54,560 So I was moved, I moved out away from them. 236 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:55,400 Okay. 237 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:56,880 But they actually made a few phone calls to say, 238 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:58,840 you know, actually, can you help us? 239 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:02,240 We actually made this money and my savings was gone. 240 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:03,080 Right. 241 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:05,560 That was the first time my savings had about 10K. 242 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:06,400 Right. 243 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:08,200 It's the very first milestone in my life, but I give it. 244 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:10,000 So anyway, so it was back to square one. 245 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:10,840 Okay. 246 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:12,800 And what led up to this Vietnam trip was like, okay. 247 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:14,120 So a few months after that, 248 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,760 I was saving this healthy sum amount of money again. 249 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,040 I was devastated, but life has to move on. 250 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:20,600 Yeah, pretty damn good saver, man. 251 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:22,360 So did it again. 252 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:23,680 And my friend, this was the time 253 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:25,080 when my Vietnamese friend asked me, 254 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:26,200 okay, do you want to go Vietnam? 255 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:27,040 Right. 256 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:28,360 And I was looking at air fees. 257 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,040 There was like $110. 258 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:31,160 It's so cheap, right? 259 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:32,000 Yeah. 260 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,440 With respect, but at that time it was like 110. 261 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:36,200 Like, that's so fucking expensive. 262 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:37,040 Yeah, okay. 263 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,080 So I don't know, going to trade the food itself, 264 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:40,400 it would be like four or 500. 265 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:41,240 Yep. 266 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:42,080 That's the amount I'm looking at. 267 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,280 So there's like half, about half amount of my savings. 268 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,080 So I was like actually hesitating a lot 269 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:48,960 to whether to go for this trip. 270 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:49,800 Yeah. 271 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:51,880 And somehow he managed to convince me, 272 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:53,320 and okay, I will just go. 273 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,120 And I wasn't expecting anything at all. 274 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,920 Nothing that was impressed or, you know, life changing. 275 00:07:57,920 --> 00:07:58,760 Right. 276 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:00,760 I just went there, everything changed. 277 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:02,160 That was how this travel bug came. 278 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:03,440 Okay, what changed? 279 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,480 So the way of life in Vietnam when it first there, 280 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:08,480 it was so different because I mean, 281 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:09,560 I read all the news and all, 282 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,600 but to experience it is another story. 283 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:13,160 Which part of Vietnam do you like me as? 284 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:14,000 Ho Chi Minh. 285 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:14,840 Ho Chi Minh, okay. 286 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:16,040 So I met him in Ho Chi Minh. 287 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:17,000 He wanted to fetch me. 288 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:17,840 Right. 289 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,360 And then we took a bus about a few five hours, right? 290 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:22,200 Right. 291 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:23,480 It's like a little province outside Ho Chi Minh. 292 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:24,320 Okay, okay. 293 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:25,280 Yeah, so his friend lived there. 294 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:29,560 So we took a bus, five hours, reached about two a.m. 295 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,680 And then we had to take like some kind of a van, 296 00:08:32,680 --> 00:08:35,040 mini van to go even deeper into the province. 297 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:35,880 Right. 298 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,560 And then 20 minutes motorbike when his friends came. 299 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:40,880 They just went like two a.m. there was nothing. 300 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:41,960 There was just a cemetery there. 301 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:43,880 So it was got a creepy start. 302 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:44,840 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 303 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,760 So that was like, wow, this is so different. 304 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:48,600 Yeah. 305 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:50,080 So there was a start of everything. 306 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:52,120 Okay, so what do you enjoy about that? 307 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,760 You mean, okay, you enjoy the fact that you got away 308 00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:00,760 from Ho Chi Minh city and you ended up somewhere 309 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:02,760 where the locals really live. 310 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:03,600 Yeah. 311 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,800 And then you got to experience, you know, 312 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,840 what a country truly is like, am I right? 313 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:11,680 Yeah. 314 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:13,280 And that gave you that travel bug. 315 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:14,120 Yes. 316 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:19,120 Despite the fact, okay, so basically you discover then 317 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,840 that based on this first experience, 318 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,600 that is because there's an adventurer in you. 319 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,080 Would you call yourself an adventurer, 320 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:29,520 an adventurous person? 321 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:31,880 At the time, no. 322 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:32,700 Right. 323 00:09:32,700 --> 00:09:33,540 At the time, yes. 324 00:09:33,540 --> 00:09:38,540 Okay, so right now you can attest that it is now a fact 325 00:09:38,540 --> 00:09:42,160 that John Yao is quite the adventurer. 326 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:43,000 Right. 327 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:43,820 Right, okay. 328 00:09:43,820 --> 00:09:46,240 So this is where I need to, I'm sorry, 329 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:47,520 I don't want to steal thunder away from you 330 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:49,640 and I promise you that I'm not trying to do so. 331 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:51,520 But the reason why I need to stop you here 332 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:53,780 is because of these things on the plate. 333 00:09:53,780 --> 00:09:56,280 Now I'm gonna ask you, man, throughout, 334 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:57,600 there are more questions for me to ask you 335 00:09:57,600 --> 00:09:58,520 about your travels, yeah, 336 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:00,440 but this is gonna be the first one. 337 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:01,800 Okay. 338 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:03,440 Throughout your travels, 339 00:10:04,780 --> 00:10:07,320 you've had cuisine from different countries. 340 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,600 What was the weirdest thing you've eaten? 341 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:12,440 Weirdest. 342 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,480 Well, this one will take a little bit of time. 343 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:18,120 Take your time. 344 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:19,440 Weirdest. 345 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:20,780 I've definitely not been, 346 00:10:20,780 --> 00:10:22,160 I've not really been to Southeast Asia, 347 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,320 so I wouldn't definitely not those little incest, 348 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:26,160 no one near that. 349 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:26,980 Okay, okay, okay. 350 00:10:26,980 --> 00:10:27,820 I'm gonna say something that was very different from- 351 00:10:27,820 --> 00:10:29,680 Well, you've been to Vietnam, though. 352 00:10:29,680 --> 00:10:31,520 Vietnam is part of Southeast Asia, isn't it? 353 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,480 Go to try those little things like that. 354 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:35,480 Street food at most. 355 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:36,320 Street food, okay. 356 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:37,600 So you've had street food. 357 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:38,440 Yes, definitely. 358 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,480 So now, but you are Singaporean, born, bred, raised 359 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:43,320 Singaporean that completed your national service 360 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,100 as you said, right? 361 00:10:45,100 --> 00:10:47,880 Do you know what these are on the table, on this plate? 362 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:48,760 It's like hebia, right? 363 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:49,600 No, it's not. 364 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,160 I don't know, it looks like hebia, 365 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,040 but I'm not sure what it is. 366 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:56,680 It looks like hebia. 367 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:58,400 Actually, I never thought of it that way, 368 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,560 but since you said it, it is not hebia. 369 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:04,360 This is an Indian dish, okay? 370 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:05,400 It's actually a snack. 371 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:06,800 It's called vade. 372 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:07,880 Vade, okay. 373 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:09,960 And it's sponsored, and this is where I gotta look 374 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:14,160 at the camera, it's sponsored by Gordon's Vade's. 375 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:15,000 Thank you again. 376 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,920 Every time I have a guest on the show, 377 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,680 dear old Vijay from Gordon's Vade's, 378 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:22,640 you can see it's flashing the screen. 379 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:26,640 These are the fluffiest, crispiest damn vades in the land. 380 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:28,960 And you see on the screen, 381 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,920 please contact gordonvade.com or WhatsApp 382 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:34,720 at the number on the screen. 383 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:35,760 This is what I'm gonna ask you. 384 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:37,200 The reason why I ask you this question, 385 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,200 because you, as a Singaporean, 386 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,320 a guy who's been traveling so intrepidly 387 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:48,240 doesn't know that this is part and parcel 388 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:50,640 of what we have in Singapore. 389 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,040 I wouldn't say claim that this is a Singaporean dish, 390 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:55,240 but it's certainly available, 391 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:57,640 because this is where the melting pot of cultures, right? 392 00:11:57,640 --> 00:11:59,280 So I wanna challenge you in this. 393 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:01,120 Take a piece. 394 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:01,960 Okay. 395 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:03,520 And take a bite, okay? 396 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:04,640 You don't have to eat the shell, 397 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,760 you can just go for the flour, okay? 398 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,400 And then take a bite off that chili, man. 399 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:12,560 I'll do it with you. 400 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:13,400 Okay. 401 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:14,480 Okay, I hope you can take this. 402 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:15,720 Cheers, mate, cheers. 403 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:16,560 Take a bite off. 404 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,560 How do you find the vade, good? 405 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:23,600 It is good. 406 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:24,560 It is good, right? 407 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:27,520 It's not too, this texture is just right. 408 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:28,520 Just right, huh? 409 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:29,360 Okay, great. 410 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:30,200 Enjoy it, mate. 411 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:31,200 You can eat during the show. 412 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:33,120 Don't worry about it, go right ahead. 413 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,200 This is Gordon's Vade's one more time. 414 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:37,560 Thank you so very much. 415 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:40,520 Really giving you air time, because we love you guys. 416 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:42,280 Every time I do a show, 417 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:46,040 and there are vades on my desk in the studio. 418 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:47,040 So thank you so very much. 419 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:48,240 VJ, love you, man. 420 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:49,440 Love you loads. 421 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:51,240 And I'm glad you're enjoying that. 422 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:52,080 Really. 423 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:53,520 Okay, please go on munching away. 424 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,920 This is really the best vade you can find across the land. 425 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:58,040 Now, okay, so, 426 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:01,280 you said, 427 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:04,000 hardly go around Southeast Asia, right? 428 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:05,800 You hardly go around Southeast Asia. 429 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,920 So, you've been traveling outside of the region. 430 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,120 Outside, of course, of Ho Chi Minh City. 431 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:14,960 Okay. 432 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:16,120 And wherever else within, 433 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,880 after the boundaries of the city in Vietnam. 434 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:20,480 Where have you been? 435 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:21,720 In Vietnam itself, 436 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,920 just that time was about a five days trip. 437 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:25,680 Four and a half, I would say. 438 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:27,040 So we went to Ho Chi Minh, 439 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:29,440 and his province for about two days. 440 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:31,240 And then we went back to Ho Chi Minh for two days. 441 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:32,360 So it was a very short trip. 442 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:34,880 Right, and what happened there after? 443 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:35,880 You mean after the trip? 444 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:37,320 Yeah, after Ho Chi Minh, what do you do? 445 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:38,800 I mean, how do you then, 446 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,720 did you decide that I'm going to be traveling? 447 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:42,880 Actually not quite yet. 448 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:44,960 But it was like a spark. 449 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:45,800 Right. 450 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:47,280 Yeah, so after I came back, 451 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,880 so okay, over there I export the village life. 452 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:51,920 I got to know how it really functioned. 453 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:52,760 Right. 454 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:55,560 Yeah, so his province is a very like farm family. 455 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:56,400 Right. 456 00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:00,000 So his friend lives in kind of like a farm style. 457 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:00,840 Right. 458 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,000 They were like chickens, cows. 459 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:04,280 So you stayed on the farm? 460 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:05,120 Yeah. Okay. 461 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,120 Two days, and then Ho Chi Minh two days. 462 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:08,920 And when I came back, so okay, 463 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,880 something a little bit changed. 464 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:12,640 Actually, you know, good traveling, 465 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:14,720 like, you know, it's very interesting for me. 466 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:15,680 It's something that, 467 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:19,680 it changed me. 468 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:20,520 Definitely. 469 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:21,360 In what way? 470 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:25,280 Like, okay, is Singapore like really the kind of place 471 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:27,040 that I want to stay? 472 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:28,520 You know, that was the first thought 473 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:30,080 that came when I came back from Vietnam. 474 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:30,920 Right. 475 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:32,840 Yeah, is this a place that I see myself forever? 476 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:34,720 Or do I just want to go back to my couch 477 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:37,360 and just read about news from my couch? 478 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:38,200 Right. 479 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:39,040 It's not something that, okay, 480 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:40,400 maybe I should be more active. 481 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,080 I'm quite interested to actually explore like, 482 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:45,920 you know, places of different culture or regions. 483 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:46,760 Right. 484 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:48,520 Actually what they're doing in this very place at this time. 485 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:49,360 Sure. 486 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,600 So that was in 2018. 487 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,120 And during June, it was announced that 488 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,120 the Trump Kim Submit would actually take place in Singapore. 489 00:14:59,120 --> 00:14:59,960 Yes. 490 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:01,040 Yeah, so, and before that, 491 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:02,080 before the announcement came out, 492 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:03,240 actually I was looking at them. 493 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:04,760 Okay, what places should I go this year? 494 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,440 What are some of the nice, like, 495 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:09,120 unique places I can visit? 496 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:09,960 Yeah. 497 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:10,800 So North Korea came out. 498 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:11,640 Yeah. 499 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:12,480 Right. 500 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,720 It was ever, it was advertised, you know, 501 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,080 we are having the 70th anniversary. 502 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:19,600 So, you know, like this, 503 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:21,400 communist countries or socialist, 504 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:23,760 they really take this anniversary very seriously. 505 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:25,440 Wait, wait, advertised where? 506 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:26,360 North Korea. 507 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,120 It was like a website, traveling website. 508 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,920 But it was not advertised in any other travel company 509 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:32,320 or travel agent here in Singapore. 510 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:33,920 It's like in a blog, no, not in Singapore. 511 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:34,760 No, okay. 512 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:36,160 So you discovered about this online. 513 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:37,800 Something like a blog, yeah, from a blog. 514 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:38,640 Travel blog. 515 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:39,480 Okay. 516 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:40,440 So like recommendations. 517 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:41,640 Travel blog, right. 518 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:43,320 Yeah, recommendations, okay. 519 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,240 So travel, come and visit communist countries this year. 520 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:47,080 In a way like that, you know. 521 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:47,920 Yeah. 522 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:48,760 Yeah. 523 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:49,600 That's a yeah. 524 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:50,440 Okay. 525 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:59,440 And then somehow sparked an interest in you. 526 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:01,480 What the fuck, bro? 527 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:03,320 I mean, okay, I mean, look, okay. 528 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,680 I can understand if I get on a travel blog. 529 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:08,520 I love to travel too. 530 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:09,760 Don't get me the wrong way, man. 531 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:11,760 I mean, I'm an advocate for people. 532 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:12,640 Get out of this country. 533 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,800 Go out there and explore the world, you know? 534 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,320 But if I see something, right, like, 535 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:19,760 hey, come visit North Korea, 536 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:21,400 and I go, fat fucking chance, man. 537 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:23,440 You're not gonna find me in fucking North Korea. 538 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,400 You're outta your freaking mind. 539 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:26,800 Now why? 540 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:28,560 Why? 541 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:31,560 I think like I've always been interested in, 542 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:33,440 so when I saw it, I was like, 543 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:35,040 I had the same reaction, you know. 544 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:36,560 It was interesting, but what the fuck? 545 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:38,760 Like who asks you to go to? 546 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:40,160 Yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah. 547 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:41,000 I get you. 548 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:42,880 So at that time, I was reading it up, 549 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,000 and actually it kind of like appealed to me 550 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,720 because I've always been interested in Soviet history 551 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:50,760 and the World War II, things like that. 552 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:52,080 Okay, okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. 553 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:53,800 Wait, I'm gonna stop you there. 554 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,960 You've always been interested in Soviet history. 555 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:57,800 Right. 556 00:16:57,800 --> 00:16:59,200 The Soviet Union. 557 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,240 This is one young man who fucking knows the term, 558 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,280 the Soviet Union, for those younger ones 559 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:07,080 about your age even probably won't even know 560 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:09,600 what the fuck the USSR was all about. 561 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:13,000 But I can understand when you say World War II, 562 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,920 I'm a big, big, big, kind of a big history buff 563 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,280 on the World War II European Theater, okay? 564 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,640 You can ask me anything about it, I can tell you, okay? 565 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:29,640 But the Soviet Union, bro, I mean, are you okay? 566 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:31,840 Maybe not. 567 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:33,040 That was what I thought, you know? 568 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:34,160 Like people, I told my friends, 569 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:36,280 like when I finally decided to go there, 570 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:37,640 which in itself was a process. 571 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,200 Wait, wait, you went to the Soviet Union 572 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:41,960 when it was the Soviet Union? 573 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:43,760 No, no, no, no, no, not yet. 574 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:45,560 My God, you would have been too young. 575 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:46,400 I wish. 576 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:47,240 You would have been too young. 577 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:50,320 The wall came down during Reagan and Thatcher's time. 578 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:55,000 But if it go to a place that is still Soviet, even now. 579 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:55,840 Really? 580 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,320 Right, there is the existent place in the world. 581 00:17:58,320 --> 00:17:59,240 Oh. That is still. 582 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:00,760 Okay, okay, let's rewind back a little bit. 583 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:03,320 Now, I wanna hear about the Soviet Union story, 584 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,320 but let's go back to like why the fuck North Korea? 585 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,800 Right, so about Soviet history and things like that. 586 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,680 So it was a, it's something that I feel like 587 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,080 it's more unique for me because I'm not someone, 588 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:17,400 I realize that I'm not someone who wants to go to places 589 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:22,400 like US, London, Paris, this, this kind of. 590 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:23,480 It's very ho-hum, huh? 591 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,640 For me, it's more, not that it's not good 592 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:27,280 or I want to boast myself as something. 593 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:28,640 It's cliche already. 594 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:29,480 It's cliche for me. 595 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:30,320 Yeah, yeah. 596 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,360 So I want it's places that no one goes. 597 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:33,200 Right. 598 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,320 But not because to boast that, oh, I've been here. 599 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:36,400 Okay. No, not that. 600 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:37,240 Okay. 601 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:38,960 But more like what exactly is going on in these places? 602 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:39,800 Okay. 603 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,280 So why I know people with, like I feel more, 604 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:45,680 there's more uniqueness in this kind of places. 605 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:47,760 It's more, a lot of things that, 606 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:49,160 a story is a way to be told, 607 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:51,240 but no one is there to tell the stories. 608 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:53,480 No one is there to know what's even going on here. 609 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:55,120 So I want to know, I don't want to know what's, 610 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:57,640 I mean, there are plenty of places like that 611 00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:59,520 in those regions that no one goes. 612 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:00,360 Right. 613 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:01,200 And not explore. 614 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,880 So just really curious to, you know, in that direction. 615 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:04,960 Go off the beaten track. 616 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:05,800 Right. 617 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:06,760 Okay. Right. 618 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,800 So that is your reason of wanting to get your ass 619 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:11,920 into North Korea. 620 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:12,760 Yeah. 621 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:14,400 To come back home for new ass. 622 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:15,240 Yes. 623 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:16,060 I mean, come on, dude. 624 00:19:16,060 --> 00:19:17,720 I mean, they could have ripped you apart, man. 625 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:18,560 Okay. What happened? 626 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:20,080 You, did you eventually go? 627 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:21,080 Yes, I did. 628 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:22,440 You're shitting me. 629 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,280 Okay. How long, how long were you there for? 630 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:27,240 I was there for 10, 11 days, 631 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,720 but it's, we were living on the morning of 11. 632 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:30,560 So 10 days actually. 633 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:32,320 You can tell me four days, five days. 634 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:34,520 Okay. This is quite a stretch, you're really telling me 635 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:35,560 10 to 11 days. 636 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:36,380 It's quite a lot. 637 00:19:36,380 --> 00:19:37,220 Jeez. 638 00:19:37,220 --> 00:19:39,080 And there was actually a tour for 21 days. 639 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:40,840 I actually wanted to go for that, 640 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:42,680 but because of work, I couldn't. 641 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:43,520 Okay. Okay. 642 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:45,320 So you landed in North Korea. 643 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:46,160 Right. 644 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,320 And you landed in Pyongyang. 645 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:49,160 Yes. 646 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:50,000 From Beijing. 647 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:54,040 Okay. So from Beijing, you flew to Pyongyang. 648 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,080 So what happened when you left the plane? 649 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:57,880 Did you have to go through immigration and customs, 650 00:19:57,880 --> 00:19:58,720 of course. 651 00:19:58,720 --> 00:19:59,560 Right. 652 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:00,380 Right. So how was that? 653 00:20:00,380 --> 00:20:01,820 How was the experience? 654 00:20:01,820 --> 00:20:04,120 Well, that was a good question. 655 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:06,080 When we first arrived, 656 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:07,720 so even on the plane, there was a story. 657 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,200 So it was, I was expecting the plane to be full. 658 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,100 I mean, to be empty, like no one, 659 00:20:12,100 --> 00:20:13,480 just maybe a few tourists and that's it. 660 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:14,840 No, it was completely full. 661 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:15,680 What? 662 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:17,720 Yeah. Of North Koreans. 663 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:18,560 Okay. 664 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:19,720 Yeah. They were going back for the holidays 665 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:21,000 because the day I- 666 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:22,960 Where were they going back from? China? 667 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:23,800 China. 668 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:24,880 All right. Right. Okay. 669 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,600 So it was for the national day holiday, 670 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:28,800 independence day. 671 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,640 So everyone of North Koreans, 672 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,400 that was the first encounter, like whole plane was full. 673 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:35,240 Yeah. 674 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:36,080 Like flying fuck. 675 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:37,960 And you were the only Singaporean? 676 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:38,800 Yes. 677 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:39,840 You're traveling alone? 678 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,280 Oh, I had one more Singaporean. 679 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:43,040 There was another Singaporean around my age. 680 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:44,240 But not traveling with you? 681 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:45,480 Not with you traveling companion? 682 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:46,320 Okay. Yeah. 683 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,240 So there were two of you traveling together? 684 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:49,080 Sorry. 685 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:50,880 I have to, 686 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,640 it's, I knew him from China itself. 687 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:55,480 So when we- 688 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:56,320 Oh, you met him in China. 689 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:57,160 We met in China. 690 00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:58,960 You became associated with him in China. 691 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:00,880 We were in this office agency 692 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:02,840 and I think that before we go for these tours, 693 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,600 we have to go to this office to hear about the rules 694 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:06,440 and so on. 695 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:07,280 So that was where I met him. 696 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:08,120 He's not my traveling companion. 697 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:09,440 Oh, wow. Now I'm hearing more things. 698 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:11,040 So you had to go into this office 699 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:13,000 to hear about the do's and the don'ts. 700 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:14,360 Right. Exactly. 701 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:16,520 Okay. And if you don't mind me asking, 702 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:17,680 I don't care about the do's, 703 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,000 but let's find out about the don'ts. 704 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:21,080 What are the don'ts? 705 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:22,360 It's actually quite simple. 706 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:24,200 It's just three main rules. 707 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:26,400 So first you cannot take any photos 708 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,040 of military installations. 709 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:28,880 That's for sure. 710 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:29,720 Okay. 711 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:31,200 So military personnel, the standards, 712 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:32,640 or the whole world. 713 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:34,600 So second will be anything that portrays them 714 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:36,080 in negativity. 715 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:36,920 So like- 716 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:37,760 In negative light. 717 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:38,600 Negative light. 718 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:41,800 Even like half finished buildings, 719 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,080 any construction trucks, things like that. 720 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:44,920 You get an idea. 721 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:46,400 Like any roads that looks really bad, 722 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,680 you're not allowed to take photos of that. 723 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:50,720 Now who's gonna be checking in you and- 724 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:52,120 The tour group leader. 725 00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:53,840 So they have two leaders. 726 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,160 One will be the tour guide. 727 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:57,880 The other one usually is more, 728 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:00,440 in a way more junior assistant, obviously. 729 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:01,280 Right. 730 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:02,600 It's like assistant to the group. 731 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:04,600 Sometimes it can be both or the same. 732 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,440 So one of the tour guides is probably gonna be 733 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,720 one of the army officers or army intelligence officers. 734 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:12,560 I never know. 735 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:13,380 We never know. 736 00:22:13,380 --> 00:22:14,220 Exactly, yeah. 737 00:22:14,220 --> 00:22:15,060 Okay, okay. 738 00:22:15,060 --> 00:22:16,520 So they told you no pictures. 739 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:18,680 Don't put them in a bad light, all right? 740 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:19,520 And no photos of- 741 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,560 No photographs of military installations 742 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,080 and of military personnel, 743 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,600 as well as half-built constructed buildings 744 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:27,440 and stuff like that. 745 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:28,800 So and roads, okay. 746 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:29,640 Anything else? 747 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:34,120 The last one will be no photos of people without permission. 748 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:35,560 I mean of the general population. 749 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:36,400 That's right, yeah. 750 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:37,840 No interacting or so. 751 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:39,120 No interacting. 752 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:41,040 Unless instructed to. 753 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:42,960 Unless given permission to. 754 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:44,120 You mean no interaction. 755 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:46,480 So you can't go into a restaurant or a shop 756 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:47,560 and buy stuff. 757 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:48,720 There's interaction, isn't it? 758 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,500 Yeah, so in this kind of situation, 759 00:22:51,500 --> 00:22:53,720 when this is part of our itinerary, it's fine. 760 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:55,320 But let's say we were on the streets, 761 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:56,520 we saw some North Koreans, 762 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,520 we are not generally not supposed to, 763 00:22:58,520 --> 00:22:59,520 hey, you know, how are you? 764 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:00,360 Like we're not supposed to do that. 765 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:02,480 You're not even supposed to greet them. 766 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:03,300 Not really. 767 00:23:03,300 --> 00:23:04,400 You can, I guess you can, 768 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,320 but there's like, it's more, 769 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,120 this is where things get more- 770 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:09,000 Gray. 771 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:09,920 Gray, exactly. 772 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:10,760 That's a very good, yeah. 773 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:11,600 Okay. 774 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:12,440 Yeah, so it depends on- 775 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,040 I mean, what kind of a freaking holiday would that be, man? 776 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,440 I mean, you're not really gonna meet the locals, right? 777 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,200 Okay, I mean, you see the locals, 778 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:20,320 but you can't meet the locals, 779 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:22,000 let alone greet the locals. 780 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:23,080 Right, so tell me what happened. 781 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:24,540 So on the plane, on the flight, 782 00:23:24,540 --> 00:23:25,920 there were mostly North Koreans, 783 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:27,720 one Singaporean guy got to know, 784 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:29,960 during the tour briefing, 785 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:31,000 you got to know him in China, 786 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:32,120 you guys flew over there, 787 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:33,800 you landed in Pyongyang, 788 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:35,200 you got the fuck off the plane, 789 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,200 and you went over to customs and immigration. 790 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:38,360 So what happened then? 791 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:41,880 So I was going past this Convay Abroad. 792 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:42,720 Yeah. 793 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,000 So it was full of very one, 794 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:45,120 so I was actually, 795 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:48,000 I wanted to take photos. 796 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:49,720 But they told you to- 797 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:51,600 But I knew that I couldn't take photos. 798 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:52,420 Yeah. 799 00:23:52,420 --> 00:23:54,560 So I actually like, you know, 800 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:56,520 I was feeling a bit more- 801 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:57,360 Adventurous. 802 00:23:57,360 --> 00:23:58,180 Adventurous. 803 00:23:58,180 --> 00:23:59,200 Backside Ichi Singaporean. 804 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,040 Right. 805 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:00,860 Yes, okay. 806 00:24:00,860 --> 00:24:04,240 So I asked, I actually asked someone in uniform. 807 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:05,360 I didn't care about uniform, 808 00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:07,080 I just had to ask someone in uniform, 809 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,280 like, can I photo? 810 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:11,880 Okay, I said it in Korean, but I learned- 811 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:13,400 Oh, so you learned Korean, 812 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:14,560 how about photo? 813 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:16,520 Just photo, how to connect photo. 814 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:17,360 Okay. 815 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:18,520 So I asked, okay, okay. 816 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:19,360 He said okay. 817 00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:20,180 She, it was a she. 818 00:24:20,180 --> 00:24:21,020 She said okay. 819 00:24:21,020 --> 00:24:23,960 Yeah, I knew it's not exactly a consent, 820 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:26,040 but I just, you know, I asked, you know. 821 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:26,880 Yeah. 822 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:28,800 Yeah, I just said, I want to take the clock, 823 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:30,760 the day is beautiful with the time. 824 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,200 They have time in Shanghai, time in USA. 825 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:34,040 Yeah. 826 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:34,860 So I just want to take that. 827 00:24:34,860 --> 00:24:35,700 Yeah. 828 00:24:35,700 --> 00:24:36,880 I wanted to take the whole belt, but yeah. 829 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:38,280 And I took one and someone, 830 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,640 someone from the military guard, 831 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:41,480 he saw it. 832 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:42,300 Yeah. 833 00:24:42,300 --> 00:24:44,440 And there was like, he shouted across. 834 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:45,280 Wow. 835 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:46,280 I pretended to like- 836 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:47,180 Not understand. 837 00:24:47,180 --> 00:24:50,680 Yeah, so I just went on to do my thing at the cab already, 838 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,920 and I was like looking for him back, things like that. 839 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:53,880 Right. 840 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,400 And he came to me and asked me to come over. 841 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:57,240 Then? 842 00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:58,520 Yeah, and then he said like, 843 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:00,640 he said a lot of things in Korean. 844 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:02,440 I didn't understand, but there was something, 845 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:04,720 of course, it was scolding you, things like that. 846 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,960 So he brought me to this place with another guy, 847 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,380 two guys now, and they look at me like, 848 00:25:10,380 --> 00:25:12,040 they were like, want to eat me up. 849 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:12,860 Really? 850 00:25:12,860 --> 00:25:13,700 Yeah. 851 00:25:13,700 --> 00:25:14,520 And it was in a room? 852 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:15,360 They detained you in a room? 853 00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:16,200 Not in a room. 854 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:17,960 It was like, so this was the conveyor belt. 855 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:18,800 Right. 856 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:20,360 And right in front, there are a few 857 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:25,360 in the Christian cultists with a bag check spot. 858 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:26,520 Right. 859 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:27,840 So this is where you have to lay your bag out, 860 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,840 and you have to take every single thing out from your bag, 861 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:34,020 to check one by one, your clothes, your travel, 862 00:25:34,020 --> 00:25:35,860 your camera, all these important things. 863 00:25:35,860 --> 00:25:37,160 Everything that you've got, yeah, okay. 864 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:39,080 Yeah, so that was where they brought me to, 865 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:40,680 and then they start opening the bag, 866 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:42,520 they got the tour guide, one of the guides, 867 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:44,760 to translate for me, you know, 868 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:46,520 while you're taking photos and things like that. 869 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:47,360 Right. 870 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:48,180 It was quite- 871 00:25:48,180 --> 00:25:49,020 Intimidating. 872 00:25:49,020 --> 00:25:49,960 Intimidating, yeah. 873 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:50,960 And what happened? 874 00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:53,480 They checked your picture. 875 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,480 Yeah, they took my phone, and they went off. 876 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:56,320 And? 877 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,080 To some room, so I was without my phone, 878 00:25:58,080 --> 00:25:59,840 but I had the guide, so it's fine. 879 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:00,680 Right. 880 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:01,680 One of the guides, she was not my guide, 881 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,800 but she spoke English, so it doesn't look, 882 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:05,720 she go nice. 883 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:06,560 Okay. 884 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,680 So yeah, so they really asked why I take photos, 885 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,320 I said I asked for permission, but you know, 886 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,000 because I said I want to take the clock, and yeah. 887 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,560 So they deleted the photos, after like 15 minutes, 888 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,360 they got back to me, and the photos were gone. 889 00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:24,280 Okay, then they told you you could go? 890 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:25,120 Yeah. 891 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:25,940 Okay. 892 00:26:25,940 --> 00:26:27,000 So they checked my bag, they really did the very 893 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:28,280 stringent one to fold my bag. 894 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:29,120 Right. 895 00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:29,960 Like really exceptionally stringent. 896 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:30,800 Well of course there were no issues. 897 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,040 Like I had a toilet roll, I think, in my bag. 898 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:37,080 They were also looking at the roll to see if there was any, 899 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:37,960 yeah, it was very- 900 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,800 Whether anything was written or encrypted onto the- 901 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:41,720 Are you shitting me, right? 902 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:42,560 Yeah. 903 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:43,560 They really checked for these things. 904 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:44,800 Okay, okay. 905 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,240 And then, but they did let you go, eventually. 906 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:49,540 Yeah, they let me go, so, but it was quite tense, 907 00:26:49,540 --> 00:26:50,800 it was really tense at the time. 908 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:51,920 Yeah, okay. 909 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,360 A lot of shouting, a lot of these eyes stares at me. 910 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:56,200 Yeah, yeah. 911 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:00,120 So I wasn't scared, to be honest, but I had to- 912 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:02,520 So come on, how can you not be scared? 913 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:03,680 I was prepared for it. 914 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:04,500 Really? 915 00:27:04,500 --> 00:27:08,600 Yeah, it wasn't comfortable, but I expected it to come. 916 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:09,440 Okay. 917 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:10,680 You know, because before I took the photo, 918 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:12,320 I know there's a chance that I will get, you know, 919 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:14,240 but it's legit, I want to take the clock. 920 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:15,080 Right. 921 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,480 So yeah, so I was prepared, okay, I'm gonna get to a room, 922 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:21,320 which I didn't even, thankfully, but even if I got, 923 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:23,320 I would be, I think I would be quite calm. 924 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:25,480 Okay, so how was your, after that, 925 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:26,720 when you left the airport, I mean, 926 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:30,400 how was your trip in general in North Korea? 927 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,560 You were only around Pyongyang, right? 928 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,720 They didn't allow you to travel out of Pyongyang, 929 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:36,560 I'm sure. 930 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:38,760 Our itinerary actually went off Pyongyang. 931 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:39,580 Huh? 932 00:27:39,580 --> 00:27:40,420 Yeah, we did. 933 00:27:40,420 --> 00:27:41,260 Well, that's surprising. 934 00:27:41,260 --> 00:27:43,760 So we were slated to go for a few places. 935 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:45,560 One of them is called Kaesong. 936 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,560 So Kaesong is close to the border with South Korea. 937 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:50,400 So this is where they have the 30th parallel. 938 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:51,240 Yeah, the 30th parallel. 939 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,760 Yeah, so we went to the JS, 940 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,360 I forgot the name for that, the JSO or something, 941 00:27:56,360 --> 00:27:58,360 the Joint Security Area, JSA. 942 00:27:58,360 --> 00:27:59,360 Yeah, okay. 943 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:03,000 So we were technically almost able to cross 944 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,040 to the South Korean side. 945 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,240 But they got the person holding the key for the huts, 946 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,440 the blue huts, the UN huts. 947 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,280 So in this, at this border, 948 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,320 there are a few, there's a demarcated line. 949 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:15,160 Yep, yep. 950 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:17,960 And between these, there are a few huts, blue colored ones. 951 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:20,200 Oh, so that's the US. 952 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:21,040 The UN. 953 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:23,360 The UN, okay, blue, blue, okay, right. 954 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:25,980 So technically you can actually go inside 955 00:28:25,980 --> 00:28:27,920 and you can cross to the South. 956 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:28,760 You can? 957 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:29,800 Technically you can. 958 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:31,640 But the guy holding the keys weren't there. 959 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:33,440 So we didn't manage to go into the room. 960 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:34,280 Right. 961 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:35,560 Yeah, but we were so close to. 962 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:37,560 But that's only for tourists. 963 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:38,400 Tourists, yes. 964 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,400 But not, of course, not for the local North Korean citizen. 965 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:42,240 No, not for locals. 966 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:44,200 You can try, you get shot, you know. 967 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:45,640 Yeah, a lot of stories about that. 968 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:47,720 Oh yeah, loads of stories about that, yeah. 969 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:49,200 So what else is it, 970 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,320 what else was interesting in your trip to North Korea? 971 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,080 At that time, one of the main museums that went there 972 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:56,640 was for the military parade. 973 00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,240 So it's a very huge military, you know. 974 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:03,040 You see on the news, they have like this huge trays of. 975 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,160 Yeah, and choreographed stuff and stuff, right? 976 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,440 Yeah, all kinds of choreographed performances. 977 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,500 Right, and we also had, they held mass games. 978 00:29:10,500 --> 00:29:12,600 It's kind of like an Olympic ceremony 979 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:14,720 where they have a performance, 980 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:18,560 but they have these people at one side of the stadium. 981 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,280 They actually have this kind of, what do you call it? 982 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:22,320 Pluckets. 983 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,280 So they form like these performances using pluckets. 984 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:26,880 So it's like a screen, but it's not. 985 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:28,440 It's actually by the people themselves. 986 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:30,880 They train for months to do these performances. 987 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:31,720 Wow. 988 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,320 Yeah, so you know, one person start 989 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:34,440 and the whole thing will flip. 990 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:36,360 It's like a wave, but with design. 991 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:37,520 Right. Yeah. 992 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:39,840 Excuse me, so did you see the great leader? 993 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:41,200 I did. 994 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,600 Yes, he was seated like two blocks away. 995 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:44,880 This would be Kim Jong Un, right? 996 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:45,720 That's right. 997 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,640 He's the only one you would see with that. 998 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,120 Yeah, it was very visible. 999 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:52,280 Right. Yeah. 1000 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:53,120 Okay. 1001 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,480 So he was really near to me, quite close. 1002 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:56,400 Really, how close? 1003 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,800 So like this was a stadium and he was here in the center. 1004 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:01,880 We were like just two blocks away. 1005 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:02,720 Really? 1006 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,760 About 150 meters away. 1007 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:05,600 Wow. 1008 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:07,000 Yeah, this is really not far. 1009 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:08,240 We could see him. 1010 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:12,080 And you looked at him, you watched his demeanor. 1011 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:15,160 Yeah, he's just like, just normal. 1012 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:16,000 Scary guy. 1013 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:16,840 No, no. 1014 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:17,680 No. 1015 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:19,240 Just watching the show and clapping. 1016 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:21,960 A lot of the clapping was really long. 1017 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:23,960 Yeah, when he claps, everybody make sure 1018 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:25,600 that they clap with him, right? 1019 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,000 Everybody better make sure they clap. 1020 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:27,840 Did you clap? 1021 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:28,680 Oh yeah, we did. 1022 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:30,400 Right, so yeah. 1023 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:34,240 So what's your takeaway of North Korea, man, 1024 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:36,000 on this trip, for this trip? 1025 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:41,000 It's, it really feels like a time travel back to the 80s. 1026 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,600 It was like China before it opened up, kind of vibes. 1027 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:47,840 So the music on the streets are really in the 80s. 1028 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,480 It's all propaganda, kind of TV shows. 1029 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:52,560 There was only one channel. 1030 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,440 We tried to tune the control. 1031 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:57,960 It was all government stuff. 1032 00:30:57,960 --> 00:30:58,800 Yeah, okay. 1033 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,760 We made sure that nobody could see what's happening outside. 1034 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,760 So that's a hermit country. 1035 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:06,080 It's not funny you should say that. 1036 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:08,000 It's like China before it opened. 1037 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:12,120 I was sort of there when they were just opening up 1038 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,360 and believe you me, man, it was scary. 1039 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:16,200 Wow, why? 1040 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:17,560 I was in Shanghai. 1041 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,680 I was in Shanghai and I was there to host an event. 1042 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:22,840 Back in those days even. 1043 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:26,840 Well, this was in, this was in 1998, 1044 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,160 if I'm not mistaken. 1045 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:36,160 And Shanghai airport wasn't like the Shanghai airport today. 1046 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:37,720 Trust you me. 1047 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:41,960 So when we arrived, there were two queues at immigration. 1048 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,720 One for the locals and one for foreigners. 1049 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:47,480 And there's a yellow line, right? 1050 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:49,440 You don't step beyond the yellow line. 1051 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,840 Now in the local queue, there was a local lady 1052 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,000 waiting to get her passport stamped. 1053 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:00,000 She's coming back home and her foot was on the yellow line. 1054 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,800 And this PRC soldier, as a lady as well, 1055 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,880 approached her and scolded her wholesale 1056 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,240 in front of all the foreign tourists 1057 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:12,240 and told her to get her foot off the line. 1058 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:17,240 And this lady sort of retorted and she got slapped. 1059 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:18,400 By the soldier? 1060 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,480 Yeah, in full view everyone. 1061 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:22,520 And I tell you all of us started looking down 1062 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,520 to see whether we were standing on the yellow line. 1063 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:26,920 Oh gosh. 1064 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:29,480 And you know the place that we were at, 1065 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,480 we were launching. 1066 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,720 It was a bar, it was a Singapore owned business. 1067 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:40,240 And in that neighborhood, I mean the parties are crazy man. 1068 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:45,240 We started the party like about maybe 2.30 in the afternoon. 1069 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:49,080 The crowd, it was summer and it was really like long days 1070 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:50,040 and short nights. 1071 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:55,200 And the crowd actually started coming in about 10 p.m. 1072 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:56,040 Right. 1073 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:58,120 It started getting dark at 10 p.m. 1074 00:32:58,120 --> 00:32:59,640 About there. 1075 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:03,200 And then in between all that, the neighborhood 1076 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:05,720 of mostly older people, old people, 1077 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:10,640 wearing the Maoist dressed, you know the Maoist uniform, 1078 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:12,160 Canada wearing old type. 1079 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:15,960 And they were about to riot at the gate of the premise 1080 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,720 because they were saying that no one is sharing 1081 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:20,880 the profits with them. 1082 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,000 Yeah, it was quite an eye opening experience. 1083 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:27,520 That was my first ever trip to China. 1084 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:29,120 And it was Shanghai mind you. 1085 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:31,920 It wasn't like some other far flung province or something. 1086 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,680 You know, like Shenyang or whatever. 1087 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:36,160 It was Shanghai. 1088 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:37,880 But this was a long time ago. 1089 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:39,840 So yeah, I get it. 1090 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:41,280 I get it when you say that, you know, 1091 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,480 when you go to North Korea, it's like the 80s 1092 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:44,760 before China opened up. 1093 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,240 Yeah, but believe me, back then in the 90s, 1094 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,440 something that I was there, it was more like the damn 70s. 1095 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:53,280 Right. 1096 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:54,120 Right. 1097 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,720 Yeah, so I get it, I get it. 1098 00:33:57,720 --> 00:33:59,280 But I'm not crazy like you. 1099 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:01,040 You see, I didn't deliberately wanna go there. 1100 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,120 I went there because it was good money to be paid. 1101 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:04,760 So I went, you know. 1102 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:05,600 Yeah. 1103 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:07,640 But anyway, tell me about the USSR. 1104 00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:12,600 Yeah, okay, you told me, you said earlier on the show 1105 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:17,600 that there are still pockets, I'm pretty sure there is, 1106 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:22,840 of maybe, I don't know, what province, territory, 1107 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:26,760 that's predominantly still believes that in Soviet Union 1108 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:28,360 and still predominantly communist. 1109 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:29,480 Tell me more about that. 1110 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:33,240 So I think the communism ideology is, 1111 00:34:33,240 --> 00:34:35,760 I mean, the USSR might have fallen, 1112 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:40,200 but the ideology is the mental side of USSR is still alive. 1113 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:42,720 For sure, it's definitely alive in lots of part 1114 00:34:42,720 --> 00:34:44,440 of this country, the post-Soviet countries, 1115 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:46,760 the 15 countries that are dissolved. 1116 00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:51,280 And there is actually this territory beside Ukraine, 1117 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:52,600 to the left of Ukraine. 1118 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,560 So which is to the, in between Romania and Ukraine, 1119 00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:56,680 which is Moldova. 1120 00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:57,520 Moldova. 1121 00:34:57,520 --> 00:34:58,360 Moldova. 1122 00:34:58,360 --> 00:34:59,180 Yeah, Moldova, yeah, okay. 1123 00:34:59,180 --> 00:35:00,020 And within Moldova itself, 1124 00:35:00,020 --> 00:35:01,840 which is a very tiny strip of. 1125 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,040 Yes, very tiny strip of land, landlocked, isn't it? 1126 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:05,520 Landlocked, yes. 1127 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:09,520 And there is actually another smaller strip of land 1128 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:14,520 in Moldova itself, which is considered a breakaway region. 1129 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:16,280 It's called Transnistria. 1130 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:17,120 Transnistria. 1131 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:18,120 Transnistria. 1132 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:19,280 Transnistria. 1133 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:20,120 Yeah, that's right. 1134 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:22,040 And what do you mean by breakaway region? 1135 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:26,040 So in during the, when USSR was about to be dissolved. 1136 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:26,880 Yeah. 1137 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:30,000 So this part of Moldova. 1138 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:30,840 Yeah. 1139 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,360 Was not really Moldovians, 1140 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:36,680 because Moldovans speak Romanian mostly. 1141 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:39,640 Okay, so the Moldovians actually have Romanian heritage. 1142 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:40,480 Right. 1143 00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:41,320 Okay. 1144 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:43,880 And, but this, how do you pronounce that? 1145 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:45,000 Transnistria. 1146 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:45,840 Transnistria. 1147 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:47,080 Yeah. 1148 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:50,440 Didn't want, okay, basically they remain, 1149 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:52,000 they want to remain communist. 1150 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:52,840 Right. 1151 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:53,680 Right, okay. 1152 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:55,280 That small sliver of, okay, right. 1153 00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:56,480 Silver of land, yeah. 1154 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:59,280 So they are pro, not pro-communist, 1155 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:00,440 but they pro-Russian. 1156 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:01,280 Right. 1157 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:04,520 They have like, actually the heritage is pretty mixed. 1158 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:06,120 They have Bulgarians living inside. 1159 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:06,960 Yeah. 1160 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:08,240 They have Ukrainians, they have Russians. 1161 00:36:08,240 --> 00:36:09,080 Right. 1162 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:09,920 They have Moldovians. 1163 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,800 So it's actually very diverse, culturally diverse. 1164 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:13,640 Right. 1165 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:15,240 But that part of land, the people there, 1166 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:17,040 they actually, they are, 1167 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:18,760 they feel like they belong to Russia. 1168 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:19,600 Okay. 1169 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:21,320 They have more roots with Russia. 1170 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:22,160 But that's Russia, 1171 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,760 not necessarily the ideology of communism, right? 1172 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,520 Actually, the government itself in that land, 1173 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:30,000 so they were fighting this war 1174 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,600 when the Dreni was about to be dissolved. 1175 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,880 So Moldova and Transnistria was fighting. 1176 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:36,880 Oh, they were at war. 1177 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:37,720 They had a great war. 1178 00:36:37,720 --> 00:36:39,440 So it's more like a, it's not like, 1179 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:42,200 it's not civil war, but it's war war. 1180 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:43,600 Civil war kind of thing. 1181 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:47,320 Oh, civil war, because Transnistria is part of Moldova. 1182 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:48,160 Yes. 1183 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:49,920 They were a separate independent entity. 1184 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:50,760 No. 1185 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:52,400 They didn't, not one of the breakaway states. 1186 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:57,200 They, so in the UN, they were recognized as part of Moldova. 1187 00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:58,040 I see. 1188 00:36:58,040 --> 00:36:59,680 But when you go there, it's different story, 1189 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:01,160 because they have their own army. 1190 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:02,000 Right. 1191 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:02,840 They have their own checkpoint. 1192 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:03,680 Wow. 1193 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:04,500 They have their own money. 1194 00:37:04,500 --> 00:37:05,340 Their own borders. 1195 00:37:05,340 --> 00:37:06,180 Own government, yes. 1196 00:37:06,180 --> 00:37:07,440 Right, their own currency. 1197 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,400 Right, so de facto-wise, it's under Moldova, 1198 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:12,840 but the jury, if I'm wrong, the right word to call it, 1199 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:14,840 the jury is not under Moldova. 1200 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:15,680 Right. 1201 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:17,720 Yeah, they have everything is under their own terms. 1202 00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:18,560 Right. 1203 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:19,380 Yeah. 1204 00:37:19,380 --> 00:37:20,320 So they actually got it by Russian troops. 1205 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:23,160 So it's like the empire and the rebels, you know, 1206 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:24,000 Star Wars, yeah. 1207 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:24,820 No way. 1208 00:37:24,820 --> 00:37:25,660 Right, right, right. 1209 00:37:25,660 --> 00:37:26,500 Right. 1210 00:37:26,500 --> 00:37:30,880 Okay, so these guys, these guys are strictly still, 1211 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:33,840 so don't tell me you went there. 1212 00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:35,160 Yeah, I went there, yeah. 1213 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:36,160 Transnistria. 1214 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:37,000 That's right. 1215 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,240 That was the first, that was actually one of the main 1216 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:41,840 reasons why I went, for the reason why I started this 1217 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:43,760 travel, it was for Transnistria. 1218 00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:44,920 What the fuck's wrong with you, man? 1219 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:45,760 Yeah, I know, right. 1220 00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:47,520 I mean, why are you going to places that you know 1221 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:49,520 you're going to get screwed so badly? 1222 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:51,960 Did you get screwed up down there? 1223 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,960 Not really, but there was a few situations, 1224 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:56,120 it was quite interesting. 1225 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:56,960 Like what, like what? 1226 00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:57,880 Name me one. 1227 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:00,960 Like, I was taking photos, cause I just were, yes. 1228 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:03,080 Again, there's gotta be fucking photos. 1229 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:04,800 Singapore is bad. 1230 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:06,880 I mean, we're getting as bad as Japanese, man. 1231 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:08,840 Like auto warm beer. 1232 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:09,680 No, that was. 1233 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:10,520 Yeah. 1234 00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:12,520 Right, I was taking with my camera, so. 1235 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:13,840 Oh, there you go, yeah. 1236 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:15,680 There were two guys that noticed me, 1237 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:17,960 and they went up to me and told me like, 1238 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:19,760 they asked me for more documents in Russian. 1239 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:21,080 They couldn't speak English. 1240 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:24,600 So I pretended not to understand what they mean, 1241 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:27,800 because I mean, inside, like, come on, fuck off. 1242 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:29,120 So yeah, I mean like, who are you? 1243 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:32,400 Because I mean, before I went, I read about all the 1244 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:35,480 possibilities of what I can face. 1245 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:37,600 Yeah, like what? 1246 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:38,920 Bribery. 1247 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:39,760 Okay. 1248 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:41,760 This is one of, because in Eastern Europe is- 1249 00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:42,600 Is rampant, yeah. 1250 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:43,440 Is rampant. 1251 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:45,640 It's not, but surprisingly, it's pretty good. 1252 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:47,360 But that's for another story. 1253 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:49,720 So anyway, these two guys went up to me, 1254 00:38:49,720 --> 00:38:53,840 and asked me repeatedly for my documents. 1255 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:55,280 They didn't say passport when they didn't- 1256 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:56,120 So were they officials? 1257 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:57,960 I mean, they weren't wearing uniforms or anything like that. 1258 00:38:57,960 --> 00:38:58,960 No, they were in plainclothes. 1259 00:38:58,960 --> 00:38:59,960 That's why I didn't want to- 1260 00:38:59,960 --> 00:39:00,800 Yeah, fuck. 1261 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:01,840 Yeah, fuck off. 1262 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:03,320 But I couldn't say that, right? 1263 00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,760 So I just said like, I don't understand them in Russian. 1264 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:07,120 I don't understand you. 1265 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:09,160 And I was trying to go, and then they stopped me. 1266 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:11,960 They tried to like lock me in this position. 1267 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:13,600 But my view was I wanted to bring them 1268 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:15,160 to this open air restaurant. 1269 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:16,440 Which was not far away. 1270 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:18,800 And I will give them my passport there. 1271 00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:20,760 But not here, just you and me. 1272 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:21,600 I don't know what you can do. 1273 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:22,440 Yeah, not privately. 1274 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:23,280 Yeah, not privately. 1275 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:25,280 So at that time, it happened for a few minutes. 1276 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:26,160 No, I don't understand. 1277 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:27,760 I want to go. 1278 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:28,880 So, and they stopped. 1279 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:30,120 This guy came out of nowhere. 1280 00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:33,240 He was a really big size, really bulky. 1281 00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:34,360 He came up, middle of me. 1282 00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:38,960 He put me to one side, and he said, ask me to wait. 1283 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:40,200 He also didn't speak English. 1284 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:42,320 And he went, took them to one side, 1285 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:44,880 and they were like, I think he was scolding them. 1286 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:46,200 The two guys. 1287 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:47,960 So they were like that. 1288 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:49,400 They were looking down. 1289 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:53,720 And like, kind of like little mouse posture. 1290 00:39:53,720 --> 00:39:56,320 And I was like, ah, Russian, all the words. 1291 00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:57,880 And I was hearing for months. 1292 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:01,520 He scolded for some time. 1293 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:04,520 And he went back to me, he said, passport. 1294 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:05,840 Just give me passport. 1295 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:09,880 And I didn't know it was collaboration, you know. 1296 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:10,720 Who knew? 1297 00:40:10,720 --> 00:40:14,000 But I just gave it, because I saw two guys behind, 1298 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,240 not far, they were wearing uniform. 1299 00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:18,000 They called militia, which is the police. 1300 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:20,200 But they were an army police, army uniform. 1301 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:24,720 So I asked them like, hey, are these two guys your guys? 1302 00:40:24,720 --> 00:40:25,640 So he looked at them. 1303 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:28,640 He said, yeah, so, okay, a few more safe. 1304 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:30,320 So he was there. 1305 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:33,520 They were there, like talking about something. 1306 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:35,720 And then he returned me the passport. 1307 00:40:35,720 --> 00:40:37,600 And this guy told me, the guy who helped me, 1308 00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:41,240 he said like, look, we should stop taking photos. 1309 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:44,080 Maybe you should come with us to our home 1310 00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:46,440 because you are being watched for, 1311 00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:49,200 because you're a foreigner, you're taking photos. 1312 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:51,320 Yeah, you've got attention. 1313 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:54,200 So, you know, we think you should come to our home. 1314 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:55,040 Home? 1315 00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:55,880 Yeah, home. 1316 00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:57,680 As in? To their homes. 1317 00:40:57,680 --> 00:40:58,640 Who's home? 1318 00:40:58,640 --> 00:40:59,560 That guy who helped me. 1319 00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:00,400 Oh, that guy's home. 1320 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:01,520 Right. 1321 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:04,560 Well, he must, okay, but this guy must be someone 1322 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:06,640 in some position of authority, isn't it? 1323 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:07,760 No, he wasn't. 1324 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:09,560 But he was just, I think he was scolding them 1325 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:11,440 because from what I understood, 1326 00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:13,760 like he's just a foreigner, he doesn't know anything. 1327 00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:14,600 What are you trying to, 1328 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:16,640 he's just a normal guy. 1329 00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:18,040 Just some normal guy trying to help. 1330 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:18,880 On the street. 1331 00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:19,720 Wow. 1332 00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:22,000 He was from the restaurant that I was, 1333 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,160 I wanted to bring them to. 1334 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:25,000 Right. 1335 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:27,800 Yeah, so he came up and I saw his kids, his wife, 1336 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:29,360 his wife came over as well. 1337 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:31,400 They said like, hey, you should really come to our home 1338 00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:33,880 to have protection, something like that, you know? 1339 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:34,720 And? Yeah. 1340 00:41:34,720 --> 00:41:35,560 And you did. 1341 00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:38,160 I refused because I didn't know if he was gonna. 1342 00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:39,000 You set up. 1343 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,040 Yeah, I was even more worried, you know? 1344 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:41,880 From the street to the house. 1345 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:43,280 Another situation where you, 1346 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:45,080 John Yell could have been trafficked. 1347 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:45,920 Right. 1348 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:46,760 Yeah. 1349 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:48,760 I was pretty unnerved. 1350 00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:49,600 Of course. 1351 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:50,440 Yeah. 1352 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:51,720 Of course, were you traveling alone for this trip? 1353 00:41:51,720 --> 00:41:52,560 Yeah, alone. 1354 00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:53,400 Alone. 1355 00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:54,220 Right. 1356 00:41:54,220 --> 00:41:55,060 Yeah, nutcase, man. 1357 00:41:55,060 --> 00:41:55,900 Yeah. 1358 00:41:55,900 --> 00:41:56,740 Freaking nutcase. 1359 00:41:56,740 --> 00:41:57,560 Okay, then what happened? 1360 00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:00,080 You went back, the whole situation, you know, 1361 00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:02,020 basically it was. 1362 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:05,000 Averted. 1363 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:07,480 Well, I wouldn't say averted. 1364 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:08,320 Diffused. 1365 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:09,160 It was diffused. 1366 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:10,000 Yeah. 1367 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:13,920 Okay, so, and then after which you went on your merry way. 1368 00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:14,760 Right. 1369 00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:15,600 Okay. 1370 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:16,420 They were insisting. 1371 00:42:16,420 --> 00:42:17,260 Yeah. 1372 00:42:17,260 --> 00:42:18,400 They said no, they gave me the number in case like, 1373 00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:22,840 okay, if you got, if you get invited by the police. 1374 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:23,680 Right. 1375 00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:24,500 To the station. 1376 00:42:24,500 --> 00:42:25,340 Yeah. 1377 00:42:25,340 --> 00:42:26,440 Just call this number if you get into trouble. 1378 00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:27,280 So, okay. 1379 00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:30,080 Well, there must be people of certain standing 1380 00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:31,720 in order for them to tell you that, you know, 1381 00:42:31,720 --> 00:42:34,000 you can take their number down, isn't it? 1382 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,120 No, I think it's purely that they really want to help me. 1383 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:37,120 More genuine people, huh? 1384 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:37,960 Yeah. 1385 00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:38,800 Yes. 1386 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:39,620 Right. 1387 00:42:39,620 --> 00:42:40,460 That's really nice. 1388 00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:43,640 But you know something, I mean, what on earth 1389 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:44,480 is wrong with you? 1390 00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:47,480 I mean, I'm sitting here marveling at the fact that, 1391 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:52,480 you know, this adventurous sense of yours, you know, 1392 00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:55,920 risking yourself being thrown into a North Korean gulag. 1393 00:42:56,800 --> 00:42:58,600 Now this other place. 1394 00:42:58,600 --> 00:42:59,440 Soviet gulag. 1395 00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:03,200 Yeah, a Soviet gulag when Soviet Union is already gone. 1396 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:05,840 And be tortured by a North Korean prison guard 1397 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:08,280 tickling the balls of a spicy kimchi for the rest of your 1398 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:09,120 life. 1399 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:09,960 I mean, 1400 00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:11,800 I'm not sure if they even give kimchi. 1401 00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:13,720 I mean, I'm just thinking, you know, 1402 00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:14,760 what's wrong with this guy? 1403 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:16,240 I mean, I admire your courage. 1404 00:43:16,240 --> 00:43:20,040 I admire the spirit of travel, but, but God forbid, man, 1405 00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:23,280 I will never put myself in a spot like that. 1406 00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:25,760 If my son comes to me one day and tells me he's going to do 1407 00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:27,960 this kind of travel, I'm going to kick him real hard. 1408 00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:28,800 You're going to slap him like soju? 1409 00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:29,640 Yeah. 1410 00:43:29,640 --> 00:43:31,160 No, no, no, not that. 1411 00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:33,720 I'm going to kick him in the butt real hard, man. 1412 00:43:33,720 --> 00:43:37,440 So, you know, this, this, this traveling of yours, you know, 1413 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:40,160 having seen cultures, having experienced all this gives you 1414 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:41,960 a richness in life, doesn't it? 1415 00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:42,800 Yeah. 1416 00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:46,480 Has it changed your beliefs and values? 1417 00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:47,400 Yes. 1418 00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:48,800 How so? 1419 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:51,240 Before, like I started traveling, 1420 00:43:51,240 --> 00:43:54,320 I was thinking like essentially the main things were, okay, 1421 00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:58,200 I'm going to stay in Singapore, like just to work. 1422 00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:00,080 And then to get married is really like the, 1423 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:02,160 the very normal lifestyle. 1424 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:04,880 When I travel, I realized that actually this is not the life 1425 00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:06,200 that I want. 1426 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:10,520 And when I come back, I don't want to be in this same system 1427 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:15,520 where I have to work for people and then I have to get married 1428 00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:16,880 and do the things that- 1429 00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:17,720 Mainstream. 1430 00:44:17,720 --> 00:44:18,560 Mainstream things. 1431 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:20,560 Yeah, conventional mainstream stuff. 1432 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:22,440 And like, I realized that the more I do these, 1433 00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:25,720 the more I actually want to travel to more places like that, 1434 00:44:25,720 --> 00:44:30,120 to, to, to feel this kind of raw kind of like adventure. 1435 00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:32,760 Okay, so right now you're not married? 1436 00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:33,640 No. 1437 00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:35,880 You're not planning to get married? 1438 00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:36,720 No. 1439 00:44:36,720 --> 00:44:37,560 Not attached? 1440 00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:38,760 No. 1441 00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:41,000 I don't plan to for, definitely not for the time being. 1442 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:42,520 What the, okay. 1443 00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:43,920 You're working? 1444 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:44,760 Yeah, I'm working. 1445 00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:45,600 Okay. 1446 00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:47,920 I just got back so I'm having to start work. 1447 00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:48,760 That will be next month. 1448 00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:49,600 You mean a new job? 1449 00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:50,640 Yeah, a new job, that's right. 1450 00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:51,480 Right, right. 1451 00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:52,880 Don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living? 1452 00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:53,960 I mean hospitality. 1453 00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:54,800 Your hospitality. 1454 00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:56,400 So like specifically FME. 1455 00:44:56,400 --> 00:44:57,760 So like I'm a waiter. 1456 00:44:57,760 --> 00:44:58,600 Yeah. 1457 00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:01,240 So that was what I did since leaving Poly. 1458 00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:02,080 Right. 1459 00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:04,160 Wow, that's a lot of saving for you to do, huh? 1460 00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:05,000 Yep. 1461 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:06,040 To travel about. 1462 00:45:06,040 --> 00:45:10,200 Still fine, I'd spend about 14,000 in seven months, 1463 00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:12,920 which is still okay, I guess. 1464 00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:14,120 It can be cheaper, but yeah. 1465 00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:15,640 Yeah, okay, okay. 1466 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:19,600 Have you ever traveled to a place 1467 00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:22,920 that drastically exceeded your expectations? 1468 00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:23,920 Expectations? 1469 00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:28,920 I think I would have two places in mind. 1470 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:31,200 It would be Poland. 1471 00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:33,440 I didn't go there for a long time, just a few days. 1472 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:34,280 Wow. 1473 00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:39,080 But Poland is, in my opinion, is pretty underrated. 1474 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:39,920 It's like- Really? 1475 00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:41,600 Yeah, it's part of EU. 1476 00:45:41,600 --> 00:45:42,440 Yeah, yeah, I know. 1477 00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:45,640 So I was expecting things to be pretty much like the EU, 1478 00:45:45,640 --> 00:45:48,440 you know, like in Austria, Germany, 1479 00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:50,840 but actually it was very cheap. 1480 00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:51,680 It was really cheap 1481 00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:53,400 and the sights were really beautiful. 1482 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:54,680 Like they have a lot of beautiful- 1483 00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:55,520 How about the people? 1484 00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:56,360 How about the people? 1485 00:45:56,360 --> 00:45:57,200 How about safety? 1486 00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:58,040 How about, you know? 1487 00:45:58,040 --> 00:45:59,720 It's completely safe to me. 1488 00:45:59,720 --> 00:46:00,560 Really? 1489 00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:01,400 Yeah, yeah. 1490 00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:02,920 And people-wise. 1491 00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:04,600 So Poland's underrated, you're saying? 1492 00:46:04,600 --> 00:46:06,000 Yeah, to me. 1493 00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:07,360 Okay, convince me, man. 1494 00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:08,200 Why should I, 1495 00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:09,840 because I've never been on my travel list, 1496 00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:12,840 why should I travel to Poland? 1497 00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:16,920 Okay, so definitely the cheap is very cheap, 1498 00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:19,960 but of course cheap is not something that everybody, 1499 00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:21,080 not everyone will say like, 1500 00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:22,880 oh, because it's cheap and you travel for some, 1501 00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:23,720 I have the money, 1502 00:46:23,720 --> 00:46:25,560 so why do I need to travel even if it's cheap, right? 1503 00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:28,120 No, fuck, I don't mind going to a cheap country, man. 1504 00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:29,560 So it's really cheap. 1505 00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:31,960 Like for example, the hostel I was staying at, 1506 00:46:31,960 --> 00:46:35,120 you can find accommodation for like $6,000. 1507 00:46:35,120 --> 00:46:35,960 No way. 1508 00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:38,080 Which was way cheaper than the Balkans, 1509 00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:39,960 which Balkans I expected the opposite, 1510 00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:42,640 but it was way more expensive than Balkans. 1511 00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:43,480 I mean, more expensive than. 1512 00:46:43,480 --> 00:46:44,320 Way cheaper. 1513 00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:45,160 Yeah, way cheaper than Balkans. 1514 00:46:45,160 --> 00:46:46,120 Cheaper than the Balkans. 1515 00:46:46,120 --> 00:46:46,960 Right. 1516 00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:47,800 Okay. 1517 00:46:47,800 --> 00:46:48,640 So yeah. 1518 00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:50,480 And of course they have a lot of beautiful places, 1519 00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:54,720 like Wroclaw, in spelling wise, 1520 00:46:54,720 --> 00:46:56,280 in English it would be called Roe Claw. 1521 00:46:56,280 --> 00:46:58,360 That was what I taught before I went there. 1522 00:46:58,360 --> 00:46:59,200 Okay. 1523 00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:00,240 It's like W-R-O and the claw. 1524 00:47:00,240 --> 00:47:01,080 Yeah. 1525 00:47:01,080 --> 00:47:02,160 So I went, oh, can I go to Warclaw? 1526 00:47:02,160 --> 00:47:03,680 And like people looking at me. 1527 00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:04,520 How do you spell that? 1528 00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:05,760 How do you pronounce it again? 1529 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:06,920 Wroclaw. 1530 00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:07,840 Wroclaw. 1531 00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:08,680 Yeah. 1532 00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:11,520 Gosh, how the hell did Wroclaw become Wroclaw? 1533 00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:12,360 Right. 1534 00:47:12,360 --> 00:47:13,520 So yeah, that was like, oh, all right. 1535 00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:15,280 Yeah, I mean, it's like, oh. 1536 00:47:15,280 --> 00:47:16,120 Yeah. 1537 00:47:16,120 --> 00:47:17,280 Yeah, you know. 1538 00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:20,680 Okay, so it's beautiful places. 1539 00:47:20,680 --> 00:47:22,000 Do you speak English predominantly? 1540 00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:22,840 They do, they do. 1541 00:47:22,840 --> 00:47:23,680 They learn English. 1542 00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:24,520 Have you been to Portugal? 1543 00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:25,360 No. 1544 00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:27,320 No, okay, okay, okay. 1545 00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:29,680 Because it doesn't burn a hole in your pocket either. 1546 00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:31,240 You put that in your bucket list. 1547 00:47:31,240 --> 00:47:32,080 Right. 1548 00:47:32,080 --> 00:47:33,840 Yeah, really, I've been there and I love it. 1549 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:35,360 And which part of Portugal did you go? 1550 00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:36,320 I was in Lisbon. 1551 00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:37,160 Lisbon. 1552 00:47:37,160 --> 00:47:38,000 Yeah. 1553 00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:41,160 But so far, the favorite place that we've been to 1554 00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:42,960 would be Norway. 1555 00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:43,800 Wow. 1556 00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:44,640 I love Norway. 1557 00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:46,720 I was there for, we were there for a month. 1558 00:47:46,720 --> 00:47:48,320 Were you with the intent to see 1559 00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:49,400 the Northern Lights as well? 1560 00:47:49,400 --> 00:47:50,360 Did you manage to see? 1561 00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:52,440 We didn't see the, we didn't manage to see 1562 00:47:52,440 --> 00:47:54,960 the Northern Lights when we were there. 1563 00:47:54,960 --> 00:47:56,280 I think Northern Lights would be better 1564 00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:58,040 if you've gone to, say, Finland. 1565 00:47:58,040 --> 00:47:58,880 Finland, right. 1566 00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:00,200 Yeah, yeah. 1567 00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:02,480 But we just love Oslo. 1568 00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:05,560 And we traveled seven hours by train 1569 00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:08,760 in what is mooted to be the most beautiful train ride 1570 00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:09,720 in Europe. 1571 00:48:09,720 --> 00:48:12,400 And that is the train ride from Oslo to Bergen, 1572 00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:16,240 the first capital of Norway. 1573 00:48:16,240 --> 00:48:17,800 Right, all the way north, right? 1574 00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:20,600 Yeah, yeah, that's right, all the way north. 1575 00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:21,440 Right. 1576 00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:22,920 It's beautiful, man. 1577 00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:26,880 I mean, God's, not good green earth, 1578 00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:28,520 but God's good white earth, 1579 00:48:28,520 --> 00:48:29,840 because we were there doing Christmas. 1580 00:48:29,840 --> 00:48:30,680 Christmas. 1581 00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:31,520 It was beautiful. 1582 00:48:31,520 --> 00:48:32,360 Right. 1583 00:48:32,360 --> 00:48:35,280 Yeah, yeah, so, but that New Bucket List too, you know. 1584 00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:36,120 Oh, wow. 1585 00:48:36,120 --> 00:48:37,080 You traveled there. 1586 00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:38,760 But I think you're a nutcase, dude. 1587 00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:40,680 I mean, what's the next step, Cuba? 1588 00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:41,760 I hope that's the- Cuba? 1589 00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:42,600 Actually, yeah. 1590 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:43,440 I thought so. 1591 00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:45,360 Yeah, Cuba for sure, but I heard, 1592 00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:47,600 I've seen like, it's more like, it's quite a tourist trap 1593 00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:48,880 for me, what I've seen. 1594 00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:49,720 Really? 1595 00:48:49,720 --> 00:48:52,080 Yeah, of course, I've not been there, 1596 00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:53,280 I'm not in a position to say, 1597 00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:56,440 but from what I read, it's pretty much- 1598 00:48:56,440 --> 00:49:01,440 But you know, I've spotted Vietnam, North Korea, 1599 00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:03,960 well, that place where it's still Soviet, 1600 00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:05,080 Moldova, yeah. 1601 00:49:05,080 --> 00:49:07,640 Moldova, Trasnistria, right? 1602 00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:11,760 And then the former Eastern Bloc, Poland, right? 1603 00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:15,080 And then now Cuba, I mean, dude, you've got a, 1604 00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:17,800 what is this about communist countries and you? 1605 00:49:17,800 --> 00:49:22,800 I think like, communism, the system that, 1606 00:49:22,920 --> 00:49:24,480 more like the legacy- 1607 00:49:24,480 --> 00:49:27,080 I'm gonna be airing the show, okay? 1608 00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:29,240 Okay, yeah, okay, okay. 1609 00:49:29,240 --> 00:49:32,760 So like this, the legacy that communism left, 1610 00:49:32,760 --> 00:49:35,560 in terms of, in a tourist perspective, 1611 00:49:35,560 --> 00:49:37,640 I think it's really interesting for me. 1612 00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:40,360 Because like, you're seeing things that, okay, 1613 00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:42,480 because Singapore used to be one of the places 1614 00:49:42,480 --> 00:49:44,520 where actually communism was to place. 1615 00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:48,520 So we merely, we almost lost to the communists, right? 1616 00:49:48,520 --> 00:49:50,880 In those Lee Kuan Yew days, in the 50s, 60s, 1617 00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:52,800 we were fighting this so much. 1618 00:49:52,800 --> 00:49:54,480 And to be able to see something 1619 00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:56,880 that Singapore most experienced, 1620 00:49:56,880 --> 00:49:57,960 I think it was really interesting, 1621 00:49:57,960 --> 00:49:58,880 a different way of life. 1622 00:49:58,880 --> 00:50:02,120 It's not that I'm for the ideology. 1623 00:50:02,120 --> 00:50:04,960 Okay, so let me get this straight, okay? 1624 00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:06,880 You are saying you're not advocating communism, right? 1625 00:50:06,880 --> 00:50:08,920 No, no, definitely not, no way, no way. 1626 00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:10,720 But I'm just wondering, I mean, 1627 00:50:10,720 --> 00:50:15,720 the interest to travel to communist nations, 1628 00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:18,360 is for the way of life. 1629 00:50:18,360 --> 00:50:20,200 To understand the way of life. 1630 00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:21,480 Yes, the mentality, because- 1631 00:50:21,480 --> 00:50:22,480 Are they different? 1632 00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:24,200 Very different. 1633 00:50:24,200 --> 00:50:29,200 So I was trying to test out my hypothesis 1634 00:50:29,240 --> 00:50:31,120 towards how they feel, how the people feel. 1635 00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:33,640 So sometimes when I visited the places, 1636 00:50:33,640 --> 00:50:36,560 like for example in Motova, was a good example. 1637 00:50:36,560 --> 00:50:40,360 I went to this flea market to look for some Soviet coins, 1638 00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:42,080 and Soviet souvenirs. 1639 00:50:42,080 --> 00:50:44,360 So I met these people, we were talking about, 1640 00:50:44,360 --> 00:50:47,000 in Sloan, in Russian, broken Russian. 1641 00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:50,440 So I was asking them, how do you feel about Soviet Union? 1642 00:50:50,440 --> 00:50:51,480 How do you feel about those states? 1643 00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:53,360 Do you feel, and I just asked them, 1644 00:50:53,360 --> 00:50:55,000 how do you generally like- 1645 00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:58,280 Right, so basically you're interested in finding out 1646 00:50:58,280 --> 00:51:02,360 how people live differently from us, 1647 00:51:02,360 --> 00:51:07,040 especially for those who are either in communist countries, 1648 00:51:07,040 --> 00:51:10,160 or former communist countries. 1649 00:51:10,160 --> 00:51:12,360 And how they are coping now. 1650 00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:14,840 So it's a point of interest, it's a cultural interest. 1651 00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:15,680 Cultural interest. 1652 00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:18,360 Right, okay, okay. 1653 00:51:18,360 --> 00:51:19,800 And some of them actually told me 1654 00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:21,640 that they miss the Soviet Union. 1655 00:51:22,520 --> 00:51:26,280 Yeah, but of course we have, okay, to put it more simply, 1656 00:51:26,280 --> 00:51:31,280 she misses it because she said, during that time, 1657 00:51:31,640 --> 00:51:32,960 a lot of things were free, 1658 00:51:32,960 --> 00:51:34,800 she didn't have to worry about homes, 1659 00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:36,520 because the government would give them. 1660 00:51:36,520 --> 00:51:40,440 It was much more simpler, like they could afford things, 1661 00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:43,840 like readily, because they have the coupons, 1662 00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:46,680 they can just go and they receive it as normal. 1663 00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:50,800 But now, after socialism fell, 1664 00:51:50,800 --> 00:51:52,640 life is really hard for them, essentially. 1665 00:51:52,640 --> 00:51:55,600 But maybe it's because they are older citizens, 1666 00:51:55,600 --> 00:52:00,600 and they don't have much time to get used to capitalism. 1667 00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:03,280 Yeah, so there was also another side, 1668 00:52:03,280 --> 00:52:05,440 so I hear different perspectives. 1669 00:52:05,440 --> 00:52:06,280 I see, I see. 1670 00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:09,040 Some of them say, thank God, you know. 1671 00:52:09,040 --> 00:52:12,200 Yeah, but now the Soviet Union's collapsed, 1672 00:52:12,200 --> 00:52:17,200 then you've got supposedly democracy, supposedly. 1673 00:52:18,520 --> 00:52:22,760 And then now it seems to be more of an autocracy 1674 00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:25,040 than anything else, isn't it? 1675 00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:25,880 Well, that's one place 1676 00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:28,040 that we shouldn't be traveling anytime soon. 1677 00:52:29,280 --> 00:52:32,120 Have you ever been lost or stranded where you were traveling? 1678 00:52:32,120 --> 00:52:34,960 Hmm. 1679 00:52:34,960 --> 00:52:36,720 When I was hiking, yeah. 1680 00:52:36,720 --> 00:52:38,720 Where did you hike? 1681 00:52:38,720 --> 00:52:39,560 That time was, 1682 00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:44,440 that was in, one of them was in Japan, 1683 00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:48,160 one of them was in Boston, Montenegro. 1684 00:52:48,160 --> 00:52:49,000 Montenegro? 1685 00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:49,820 Montenegro. 1686 00:52:49,820 --> 00:52:52,840 Oh my goodness, you went hiking in Montenegro? 1687 00:52:52,840 --> 00:52:55,320 And where the hell did you go hiking in Japan? 1688 00:52:55,320 --> 00:52:56,160 Japan was- 1689 00:52:56,160 --> 00:52:58,080 Not in that crazy forest, right, where people go? 1690 00:52:58,080 --> 00:52:58,920 No, not that one. 1691 00:52:58,920 --> 00:53:00,280 Oh, not that one, thank goodness for that. 1692 00:53:00,280 --> 00:53:02,280 I think I wouldn't, I think I would be here. 1693 00:53:02,280 --> 00:53:04,320 So you're not that adventurous after all. 1694 00:53:04,320 --> 00:53:05,160 No, not yet. 1695 00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:08,720 I have kind of some fear towards the supernatural. 1696 00:53:08,720 --> 00:53:09,560 Oh. 1697 00:53:09,560 --> 00:53:12,880 Not that I super believe, but I believe it exists, 1698 00:53:12,880 --> 00:53:15,600 and I shouldn't put myself in that environment where I can, 1699 00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:16,440 you know. 1700 00:53:16,440 --> 00:53:17,840 Yeah, yeah, so at least it's something 1701 00:53:17,840 --> 00:53:18,920 you don't go chasing after. 1702 00:53:18,920 --> 00:53:20,040 Yeah, no, not that. 1703 00:53:20,040 --> 00:53:20,880 Okay. 1704 00:53:20,880 --> 00:53:22,060 Let's talk about Montenegro, man. 1705 00:53:22,060 --> 00:53:23,980 You got lost, you were alone. 1706 00:53:23,980 --> 00:53:24,820 Yeah, I was alone. 1707 00:53:24,820 --> 00:53:25,640 Are you kidding me? 1708 00:53:25,640 --> 00:53:27,080 Yeah, I'm always alone. 1709 00:53:27,080 --> 00:53:31,520 And what do you arm yourself with going into the forest? 1710 00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:33,960 Was it a forest that you went hiking in? 1711 00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:34,800 Not exactly. 1712 00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:35,640 Yeah. 1713 00:53:35,640 --> 00:53:39,280 It's like this monastery, it's called Oostrook. 1714 00:53:39,280 --> 00:53:40,120 Right. 1715 00:53:40,120 --> 00:53:43,120 It's about, it's not far from the capital city, 1716 00:53:43,120 --> 00:53:46,000 so it's about one hour train ride to that place, 1717 00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:47,640 and then you have to hike for about two hours 1718 00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:48,680 to get to the monastery. 1719 00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:49,520 So it's actually- 1720 00:53:49,520 --> 00:53:51,720 So it's getting you away from the train station 1721 00:53:51,720 --> 00:53:53,120 to the monastery. 1722 00:53:53,120 --> 00:53:54,980 Which is like a hiking path? 1723 00:53:54,980 --> 00:53:57,000 It's a hiking path with no civilization around, 1724 00:53:57,000 --> 00:53:58,880 no towns, no little villages, nothing. 1725 00:53:58,880 --> 00:53:59,880 Hamlets, no, nothing. 1726 00:53:59,880 --> 00:54:00,720 No. 1727 00:54:00,720 --> 00:54:01,560 Right. 1728 00:54:01,560 --> 00:54:02,520 Just a road with empty roads. 1729 00:54:02,520 --> 00:54:04,120 Empty road with what? 1730 00:54:04,120 --> 00:54:05,560 With what on the left, what's on the right? 1731 00:54:05,560 --> 00:54:07,120 No, there's nothing at all. 1732 00:54:07,120 --> 00:54:08,240 It's just flatland. 1733 00:54:08,240 --> 00:54:09,080 Yeah, just flatland. 1734 00:54:09,080 --> 00:54:10,480 Just like a mountainous region, 1735 00:54:10,480 --> 00:54:13,420 with some roads built for people to travel past, 1736 00:54:13,420 --> 00:54:14,720 and you have to hike in. 1737 00:54:14,720 --> 00:54:16,080 And then you got lost. 1738 00:54:16,080 --> 00:54:16,920 Yeah. 1739 00:54:16,920 --> 00:54:18,200 I got lost when I was- 1740 00:54:18,200 --> 00:54:19,040 Then what happened? 1741 00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:21,280 There's no GPS working in your phone too, right? 1742 00:54:21,280 --> 00:54:24,360 I had GPS, but I needed to get, 1743 00:54:24,360 --> 00:54:26,160 so I was like going up this path, 1744 00:54:26,160 --> 00:54:27,680 and I took a wrong turn. 1745 00:54:27,680 --> 00:54:30,800 And I actually went up to this place 1746 00:54:30,800 --> 00:54:34,400 where there were a lot of trees in front of me, 1747 00:54:34,400 --> 00:54:37,240 like overgrown trees, bushes and thorns. 1748 00:54:37,240 --> 00:54:39,080 So I was kind of stuck there. 1749 00:54:39,080 --> 00:54:41,760 I wanted to go back, but according to my GPS, 1750 00:54:41,760 --> 00:54:43,240 it's pretty close. 1751 00:54:43,240 --> 00:54:46,600 It's easier to just go up than to go back down 1752 00:54:46,600 --> 00:54:48,120 and find it away. 1753 00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:49,580 So I got stuck for about one hour, 1754 00:54:49,580 --> 00:54:52,520 trying to find my way through, to crawl. 1755 00:54:52,520 --> 00:54:53,640 And there was no one else around? 1756 00:54:53,640 --> 00:54:54,480 No one. 1757 00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:55,320 Holy shit, okay. 1758 00:54:55,320 --> 00:54:56,160 And what happened? 1759 00:54:56,160 --> 00:54:58,760 Just had to persevere, but it was really tough. 1760 00:54:58,760 --> 00:55:01,320 You followed the GPS anyway, and you went ahead. 1761 00:55:01,320 --> 00:55:02,160 I went ahead. 1762 00:55:02,160 --> 00:55:03,000 And you did find the monastery. 1763 00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:05,320 Yes, because I knew there was, I saw a road, 1764 00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:08,120 some kind of like just a small road, 1765 00:55:08,120 --> 00:55:10,560 cast a pass, and I know once I reach there, I'm good. 1766 00:55:10,560 --> 00:55:14,720 Okay, so essentially, you arrived at the monastery, 1767 00:55:14,720 --> 00:55:16,480 and why did you want to go to the monastery? 1768 00:55:16,480 --> 00:55:18,080 Oh, it's just for beauty. 1769 00:55:18,080 --> 00:55:19,760 It's like, it's actually a monastery 1770 00:55:19,760 --> 00:55:21,140 that's carved into the wall. 1771 00:55:21,140 --> 00:55:24,160 Right, but there are monks in the monastery. 1772 00:55:24,160 --> 00:55:26,080 Yeah, not really, we don't call them monks. 1773 00:55:26,080 --> 00:55:27,760 I think we call them adverts. 1774 00:55:27,760 --> 00:55:28,600 Yeah, something like that. 1775 00:55:28,600 --> 00:55:30,520 No, no, it's gotta be monks' monastery. 1776 00:55:30,520 --> 00:55:31,360 I don't think they're called. 1777 00:55:31,360 --> 00:55:32,180 It's Catholic, right? 1778 00:55:32,180 --> 00:55:33,020 Yeah, Catholic. 1779 00:55:33,020 --> 00:55:33,860 Yeah. 1780 00:55:33,860 --> 00:55:34,680 Are they called monks? 1781 00:55:34,680 --> 00:55:35,520 Monks, yeah. 1782 00:55:35,520 --> 00:55:36,360 Oh, right, okay. 1783 00:55:36,360 --> 00:55:37,180 I didn't know about that, but yeah. 1784 00:55:37,180 --> 00:55:39,680 Yeah, usually, yeah. 1785 00:55:39,680 --> 00:55:42,240 Okay, so, well, you see, go into a monastery, 1786 00:55:42,240 --> 00:55:43,240 don't know they're called monks. 1787 00:55:43,240 --> 00:55:44,760 What the hell is wrong with you, man? 1788 00:55:44,760 --> 00:55:45,600 Okay. 1789 00:55:48,720 --> 00:55:50,520 That's where you got lost, you went in there. 1790 00:55:50,520 --> 00:55:52,720 But after you came out of the monastery, 1791 00:55:52,720 --> 00:55:56,020 you have to go the same beaten path back to the train station. 1792 00:55:57,440 --> 00:55:58,560 By right, yes. 1793 00:55:58,560 --> 00:56:00,200 Yeah, but by left? 1794 00:56:00,200 --> 00:56:01,280 By left, I got lost. 1795 00:56:02,280 --> 00:56:04,240 So I went to look for a local, I said, 1796 00:56:04,240 --> 00:56:06,600 hey, do you know how to get out of this place? 1797 00:56:06,600 --> 00:56:08,240 Because it was pretty late, it was like five. 1798 00:56:08,240 --> 00:56:09,800 I was supposed to leave at that time, 1799 00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:11,200 but I missed the last train. 1800 00:56:11,200 --> 00:56:13,740 So I asked some locals, if you could, you know, 1801 00:56:13,740 --> 00:56:16,600 anyways, taxi or any shuttle bus that goes by, 1802 00:56:16,600 --> 00:56:18,380 or hitchhiking, things like that. 1803 00:56:18,380 --> 00:56:21,400 So there was this guy who, I asked the bus driver, 1804 00:56:21,400 --> 00:56:23,560 he's going to a town. 1805 00:56:23,560 --> 00:56:26,120 So I got on the ride, taxi ride for a few dollars, 1806 00:56:26,120 --> 00:56:27,040 to about $10. 1807 00:56:27,040 --> 00:56:29,880 Right, and then you managed to make it for your last trip. 1808 00:56:29,880 --> 00:56:32,980 Okay, one last question before we say goodbye. 1809 00:56:35,280 --> 00:56:38,820 Any advice for people who love to travel? 1810 00:56:39,960 --> 00:56:42,880 Well, who love to travel, I think. 1811 00:56:42,880 --> 00:56:45,980 It depends on, in general, it really depends 1812 00:56:45,980 --> 00:56:47,600 on what kind of traveling they're looking for. 1813 00:56:47,600 --> 00:56:50,060 But if you would like to travel, 1814 00:56:50,060 --> 00:56:55,060 I really recommend that you try more of solo trips, 1815 00:56:56,360 --> 00:56:59,560 if possible, or maybe let's say you want to do it together. 1816 00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:01,440 You can try places that are really not so well known. 1817 00:57:01,440 --> 00:57:02,880 Solo trips, yeah, okay. 1818 00:57:02,880 --> 00:57:04,680 There are more well known, not so well known. 1819 00:57:04,680 --> 00:57:05,520 Right, right. 1820 00:57:05,520 --> 00:57:08,000 Off the beaten path, because these are the places 1821 00:57:08,000 --> 00:57:10,000 to just go with the flow, when you're there, 1822 00:57:10,000 --> 00:57:12,320 because these experiences are priceless. 1823 00:57:12,320 --> 00:57:14,760 So the mantra would be, when you're on holiday, 1824 00:57:14,760 --> 00:57:15,920 don't worry about getting lost, 1825 00:57:15,920 --> 00:57:17,560 because it's a holiday anyway. 1826 00:57:17,560 --> 00:57:19,560 Find out more, discover new places. 1827 00:57:19,560 --> 00:57:22,800 Sometimes we have a desire to, oh, we have to go here, 1828 00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:23,640 we have to go there. 1829 00:57:23,640 --> 00:57:26,160 This trip is day one, we have to be here, 1830 00:57:26,160 --> 00:57:27,360 day two, here and there. 1831 00:57:27,360 --> 00:57:29,960 But I think sometimes we should be more relaxed about it. 1832 00:57:29,960 --> 00:57:32,920 Just, okay, just go a little bit more with the flow, 1833 00:57:32,920 --> 00:57:35,160 because these are the times where you actually turn 1834 00:57:35,160 --> 00:57:37,120 into an experience that you never forget, 1835 00:57:37,120 --> 00:57:39,120 which is what happened for me. 1836 00:57:39,120 --> 00:57:42,200 Any advice for people who don't like to travel, 1837 00:57:42,200 --> 00:57:43,480 or not inclined to travel? 1838 00:57:43,480 --> 00:57:45,040 Don't like to travel. 1839 00:57:45,040 --> 00:57:46,320 Or not inclined to travel. 1840 00:57:46,320 --> 00:57:47,480 Not inclined to travel. 1841 00:57:47,480 --> 00:57:50,680 I think traveling is a very good way to experience 1842 00:57:50,680 --> 00:57:51,920 something that is very different. 1843 00:57:51,920 --> 00:57:55,040 Let's say I'm Singaporean, I work every day, 1844 00:57:55,040 --> 00:57:56,680 for whatever reasons I don't like. 1845 00:57:56,680 --> 00:57:58,280 I think they should try. 1846 00:57:58,280 --> 00:57:59,640 They should still try. 1847 00:57:59,640 --> 00:58:04,640 Maybe as a reason for themselves to, hey, 1848 00:58:04,840 --> 00:58:09,840 I should do some therapy, in the sense of like, 1849 00:58:09,960 --> 00:58:11,280 okay, I don't like to travel, 1850 00:58:11,280 --> 00:58:14,120 but maybe you can explore somewhere near, 1851 00:58:14,120 --> 00:58:17,240 just something that is close to you. 1852 00:58:17,240 --> 00:58:19,720 And something that is still off the beaten track. 1853 00:58:19,720 --> 00:58:21,440 Okay, so it's not small, you mean? 1854 00:58:21,440 --> 00:58:23,520 It's not small, yeah, exactly. 1855 00:58:23,520 --> 00:58:25,800 Thank you, well John, thank you so very much 1856 00:58:25,800 --> 00:58:27,080 for being on my show. 1857 00:58:28,000 --> 00:58:31,120 That was John Yeo, and it's good that we have him on the show, 1858 00:58:31,120 --> 00:58:34,120 because this guy has such big kahunas. 1859 00:58:34,120 --> 00:58:36,560 He travels anywhere, he can go alone. 1860 00:58:36,560 --> 00:58:39,280 You heard the story today, and it's good that we have him 1861 00:58:39,280 --> 00:58:41,200 here before he gets abducted by aliens. 1862 00:58:41,200 --> 00:58:44,920 So it's a good thing that we've got him on the show. 1863 00:58:44,920 --> 00:58:46,600 Thank you so very much for being here. 1864 00:58:46,600 --> 00:58:49,400 And again, thank you so much Gordon's Vadez. 1865 00:58:49,400 --> 00:58:51,040 It's been great, really, thank you so much. 1866 00:58:51,040 --> 00:58:52,200 Keep him coming. 1867 00:58:52,200 --> 00:58:54,440 We'd love to have more of your Vadez. 1868 00:58:54,440 --> 00:58:57,560 This is Chris Hansen for the Chris Hansen Conversation. 1869 00:58:57,560 --> 00:59:00,240 I'll see you again real soon, bye bye. 1870 00:59:00,240 --> 00:59:19,680 푸