The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Hey Happy Birthday to me… podcast! Welcome to Nagasaki! What a trip! Forgot the PIN to my credit card so it took a little work to get everything booked. Cashier only took cash or card, no tap. Luckily another service staff member helped me book the ticket online. That way, you enter the card number and a password then use that same card to pick up the tickets at the station. A run around but it go...

Up early-ish and out the door for a 7 km run. Ran a lot quicker today than previous days. Made my way through Utsubo Park, very nice peonies I think they were. Osaka Castle for the afternoon. What’s next? Starbucks vanilla donut?? How was it? Not worth it! Bought some summer clothes from Uniqlo! UV protection gear. Nice and breathable! And I think I figured out a simple way to do Chinese subtitles...

Out for a run but it was hard to get going! Didn’t get last night’s episode up until around midnight. Hope you enjoyed the talk with Art after yesterday’s episode. His website is artimax.com Logistics of running! Japan obeys the rules and that means stop lights! And there are quite a few of those in the neighbourhood! Found it a bit difficult to navigate, not least of all because everybody was on...

And hello from Osaka! Finally booked the flight last night… completely forgetting about the idea of taking the boat! Darn! Lemon Cass, not bad. Had a few of those and some soju with the other hostelites. And I’m reminded why I don’t drink with people nor hang around 20 yr olds! Flight was uneventful, but getting to Osaka Station was a bit of work. I didn’t realize you could just take the airport l...

Staying one more night? Why?? Cause it's so quiet! Walking around Hongdae again, did one live stream on YouTube... I think I have a new content creation idea. Met up withthe Korean lady we met back in Australia! She lives in Gimpo so came over to Hapjeong for tea. Tried some BBQ, but not samgyupsol, some sort if pork barbecue. And I'm missing Trump again! Donate to the show! PayPal link below! htt...

Happy Mother’s Day! Did you remember to call? If not, do it today and you can blame the time difference! Still in Seoul, South Korea, most likely flying out tomorrow to Osaka. Need to find a finger printing place and then need to apply for a police background check somehow. Seriously doubting this job application. How has Seoul been? Very quiet! Only 9 million people here contrast that with Beijin...

Dae ha min guk! Clapclap clapclap clap! Arrived! BARELY got onto the flight! I completely misjudged the time it would take to get to T2 and when we got to the airport the check in was closed. Since I only had carry on, I asked if I could just get the boarding pass. He said no, it closes an hour ahead of departure. The papers have already been sent to immigration. Interesting. Gf chimes in and tell...

OMG! DON’T WORKOUT AND THEN EAT CAROLINA REAPER BEEF JERKY! OWWWWIEEEE! Each idea unto itself was good, the beer, the jerky, the curry. All together? OUCH! “Like menstrual cramps”. Streaming and broadcasting, thinking… a comprehensible English podcast? A relaunch of the Language Vlog Podcast but intended for language learners. Do I have to do this? Or do I vibe code some website? Ready to go? Seou...

Friday is D-Day! Departure day that is. As far as I understand the rules on the Chinese Embassy to Canada’s website, it’s entry day+1 for the 30 days. That is, the count doesn’t start until the day after so technically (hopefully) my visa doesn’t expire until Saturday. Good, tickets are a little better on Friday than Thursday. Will be hosteling it up and wondering, how will this go? Will I even wa...

End of the long weekend and getting closer to departure day, where shall I go? More live streams done, spending much of my morning editing clips. Will need to get some help for this. Thinking about my stuff and it’s not about the stuff I’ll get rid of, it’s about the stuff I’ll keep: where will I put it? GOLD STOCKS bottoming?? Chinese markets open again tomorrow. And marriages abound! Did my vide...

May the Fourth be with you! And such and such. Prepping to get going, where should I go? Should I go around the world? How much stuff AM I taking with me? Posting to XHS and developing a better Chinese subtitle workflow — it’s getting easier. Substack and live streaming, what if I just focused on one platform, not ten?? And how was Burger Fest? Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.pa...

Just watched the speeches! How were they?! King Charles is in the US! What do I think?! What do the Brits think?! Charles’ speech in Congress was steeped in history, but the speeches at the dinner were a lot more funny. “He got the Democrats to stand.” Historical references throughout! Did you get all of them? His comment about re-arranging the White House back in… 1814. And if not for the Brits,...

End of the month! Hope you got your taxes done! Live streams continue! Today… YouTube! Hope you enjoyed yesterday’s episode! All about how I got started teaching English! Was a bit of a mess BUT, did you see the album art? Well, did that ever take me down memory lane AND showing the gf what I look like without a beard! More stock talk. How many stocks can you really own? Another look at my spreads...

Relocation done and did! To China an expat goes… from Korea? This guy I knew back in South Korea has now moved his family to China. Is China the place to be or is it done? Guess I should tell the story of how and why I started teaching English overseas. It’s rather simple. Tiktok Live Studio now available for MacOS?! Content, Call to Actions, and Clients. Get going! And wondering, what if I just w...

Gotta get out more to take more album art pics! Someone stole my water bottle! AND SKIPPING ROPE! The gym is costing me more! WHY?! Listening in to some of my older podcasts (back when they were only 20 minutes long!) Lots are available on my website under the “Archives” section. Not sure you’ll like listening to those, not sure I’ll keep them up! (Fixed up the Notion database a little bit.) New f...

Windy and dusty! It’s that time of year where you need to run with a mask! Workout in! Legs and bench, not sure why my back is killing me so much. First time in a long time I haven’t gone to the gym! Broadcasting overseas and wondering what’s the difference between a platform stream and an in-person class. And Claude Cowork for the win! Building a B-Roll folder that can be used across my videos! B...

Low energy day, but got 44km done on the bike. Why? Out to Wudaokou to meet up with some former students. What’s the place like now? (Smoggy, for one.) Slowly getting hot and things are slowly slowing down! I SO wanted McDonalds today but every time I go I feel disappointed. So I made it myself. Came home and cooked up some bacon and eggs, toast and cheese and Vegemite = even better. Looks like I’...

Interview done and did! Should I stay or should I go? Enjoying this new recording routine cause I spend the night “Chinese-ing”. Chinese only! Watching Chinese at Dawn, Chloe Chinese Class and EasyTalk Chinese. Workout in! And run done from the Canadian embassy. What was I doing out there? Tried the Carolina Reaper Beef Jerky! Tingly! Sweating! But not deathly! And a little bit of a surprising sta...

Workout in! Slow going, but got it done! Accessory legs in the morning, afternoon run done, 6.44km in 55.04. SLOW! Been catching up with some people around the compound, one lady from Serbia isn’t working at the moment, her husband is a SCREENWRITER! Jobs are there, but far between. Global warming?? How’s that for Chinese class?! But why aren’t there any grandparents talking about how the climate...

What if I had a Substackcast? Waitaminute, Steve, if you don’t want to read your own stuff, why would others? Should’ve bought Microsoft! Chinese banks a hustling! I have a problem! Workouts in but my account is less than 50 RMB! Can’t scan in! What should I do? How are my Chinese language lessons going? Tim Cook steps down, John Ternus steps in. Twenty five years at the company?! Did I miss somet...

420! Snicker snicker! hee hee hee Off to the museum! First time in a long time! Crowds a go go and wow, sandstorm and catkins abound. 假装上班! jiǎzhuāng shàngbān is all the rage! Also known in the West as “quiet quitting”. Another new phrase: 脱下孔乙己的长衫 (removing the long gown of Kong Ji — a short story by Lu Xun). https://www.sinicapodcast.com/p/mockupation-phrase-of-the-week https://cercl...

Got humid in here, and only going to get worse! Workout in! Deadlifts, skips and pull ups! A bit different from other Fridays. Short run back to the apartment this morning. I guess I’m known as the workout guy as a lot of people have mentioned they haven’t seen me running around lately. Job posting for September, should I take it? And reading through some of the books I want to get rid of: The Sta...

Dangerous to lie down after dinner! Falling asleep and waking up early! Do you still hate Trump or have you forgiven him now that the market is up again? Niche vs newspaper? Which format wins? Specific topics or a variety of discussions? What’s my CTA?! And Bob Lazar has a new documentary out! He was on Rogan! Again! Is it time for disclosure or is this just a money grab?? Donate to the show! PayP...

She cries, and then she dies! How was that TV show (去有风的地方). Apparently it gets better from there. How was Chinese class? Is Chinese grammar easy? Sure… if you can read the sentence and understand the meaning. Workout in! Accessory leg day, then a run up the 3rd ring road to meet for coffee with a friend and former colleague. Bike ride back. And sold some books! Thanks Mom! Next, China. Dona...

How was Chinese class? What does HSK 5 really mean? Watching another YouTube channel In Chinese, this lady I guess used to live in UAE and taught Chinese to kids. Does all of her videos in comprehensible Chinese. Mentioned 去有风的地方 “Meet Yourself” TV show. Up and out in the morning, chest day today. No run. Recorded another component of the online course. Thinking of uploading allll of my trav...