Winterlude and Bonsai Potatoes

Hopefully, as a sign that the end of Winter is approaching, Winterlude 2008 came to a close today. Ottawa's annual winter festival is known for its ice sculptures, skating on the Rideau Canal(apparently the world's biggest skating rink....7km long)and the infamous Beaver Tails...Ottawa's own high calorie winter-time snack.

With only a couple of days left in Canada, Mai and I took a trip to the canal yesterday. It was a gorgeous day. the sun was shining and hordes of folks stumbled along the canal. Many sober, some maybe not! We lived the "Ottawa Winterlude Cliche" and followed up some skating with Beaver Tales and coffee. It was nice, but again, I can't wait for this winter to be over. This was my first time in Canada in almost 6 years during the Winter and I have to admit...I wish I wasn't here for the Winter...to damn cold!

Throngs of people stumble about, making merry and eating deep-fried bread snacks (Beaver Tails). Many were skating, some walking and some simply rolled about on the ice with skates attached to their feet.


On our way to Starbucks on Elgin Street for a coffee and a chance to warm-up, we admired some definite "widow-maker" icicles!


It's Zen Without the Wait!!!!
"Are you the type of person who longs for patience and tranquility in your life? Of course you are, but in our modern society who has the time? Now it's possible. With the items contained in this kit you can quickly and efficiently reach an inner peace that can take monks an entire lifetime to achieve."

That's what it says when you take a look at the home of the Bonsai Potato.



Just when you think you life couldn't possibly get weirder....it does. I suppose this is a case of the Orient meets Idaho!


On a non-potato topic. I came across this weird pic today. I took it last year while walking to a restaurant in Busan. I think I had been hiking and consuming beer on Jangsan (a local mountain) and saw this giant dog-house-thingy.

Not sure what it was. Possibly a vet's office...maybe a pet shop...hopefully not a dog restaurant. Doubt the last one though...doggie restaurants in Korea are normally more discreet with their signage.

There Be Gangsters Everywhere!

If there’s one thing Busan is famous for in Korea, its mobsters. The city is teeming with gangsters which are referred to in Korean as “Gangpeh.” Busan gangsters are famous in Korea because of the movie “Chingu” (Friend) which is the life story of a group of friends who become gangsters in Busan, during the 1970’s and 80’s. If anyone is interested in seeing real life gangsters, all they have to do is come to my neighborhood. If you hang around the Family Mart outside of my apartment any night of the week or even sit in the local Starbucks, there they are.



My apartment building and the one next to it are filled with young women who are employed by Busan’s underworld. Dozens of girls spend the night be ferried to Room Salons, business clubs, whiskey bars and other dubious locations to entertain Korean businessmen. This often involves just drinking and having conversation with businessmen, but often, if the price is right, shadier deals are done between the young women and male clients. Throughout the day, there is a fleet of black sedans parked behind my apartment building. Each one usually has a solitary driver, young, thuggish looking man. They taxi the women around during the daytime, helping them buy groceries and whisking them off to daytime rendezvous.

During the evening and night, the area around my apartment is buzzing with activity. Girls get into sedans and are driven off, arriving back sometimes quickly, when they hop out of one car and into another. This activity goes on all night. Every night. If you are awake early in the morning, between the hours of 6am-8am, you can usually see and hear these girls stumble back home.

Aside from the hostesses, there are other dark characters lurking about. Often you can see groups of hulking Korean guys milling about in the neighborhood, perfectly fitting the description of the stereotypical “Gangpeh.” Today in my local Starbucks was a table full of such men. They had “dangerous” written all over them. What was interesting was that at a second table, sat a lone lackey. He sat apart from them but closely watched them. At one point when their water cups were empty, he ran over refilled them and sat back down at his “Lackey Table.” I once even saw a group of about 20 scary looking, black suit-clad goons bowing to what looked like a kingpin as police sat in the distance writing down license plate numbers. Ive read that luckily, “Gangpeh” avoid foreigners for fear of drawing attention to themselves…good!

Needless to say, I live in an interesting neighborhood.