Civic conscience

Few things put a downer on your day more than stepping on dog shit. The frequency of this hazard varies wildly from country to country, but it should come as no surprise that it is almost non-existent in Japan.

Witness this woman walking a dog in the northern town of Otaru. While in some countries you might come across the conscientious owner carrying a scoop and a doggy bag, this woman additionally brought a big bottle of water for splashing posts, corners and other spots the furry friend chose to urinate all over!

Most impressive, a challenged city like Buenos Aires, mired in dog poo, could do well with an export of 10,000 ladies like this one.

Moon

Just when you thought it was all lost to infantile effects-centered trash like Transformers, this year's unexpected sci-fi pleasure is British sci-fi Moon. Remniscent of 2001, Bladerunner and Alien (yes, there has not been much in the vein of intelligent sci-fi for that long a time), Moon is a film stuffed full with ideas and questions, as well as a masterful use of a relatively small budget.

Moon follows a lone lunar worker, extracting energy to keep Earth going, only accompanied by a cheerful computer. His three-year posting is coming to an end, when things start to happen. This definitely is one of those films where knowing as little as possible of the plot greatly enhances the experience, so I will leave it at that. A must see.

"Tonight Whites only pay a fiver"

It was a Friday night in the posher parts of London nightlife. Walking past a club, the very friendly tout approached our diverse group of near dozen people, promising a discount to the Caucasians, seemingly oblivious to the fact some of us were Asians.

"You pay only five, cause on a Friday we like 40/30/30, and now it is more like 20/40/40". When asked the meaning of these numbers, he eagerly explained it meant the percentage distribution of Whites, Blacks and Asians! Needless to say, a rather surprising concept in multicultural London.

The tout? He was Pakistani.

The poker kids of Buenos Aires

They come primarily from the US, but some also from a smattering of European countries. Almost exclusively aged between 20 and 25. Their mission? Making it as professional poker players.

The last couple of years have seen the virtual establishment of a colony of expat poker players in Buenos Aires. Between 50 and 100 live in the city, less when the brief, mild Argentinian winter sets in.

What drives them to Argentina? Motivation is served by reports in an internet poker forum of reasonable living costs, great steaks, never-ending nightlife and hot women. As well as an established community of fellow players, making for a less scary transition to the unknown, since for many of the Americans this is the first step on foreign soil.

The actual setup varies between the ones who play for smaller and bigger stakes. While some go for relatively mundane housing, others rent luxury apartments far beyond what is possible in Europe or the US. Rooftop jacuzzis, maids - even hiring personal assistants and chefs to facilitate spending as much time as possible playing online poker.

The fact that Argentina boasts a pleasant climate and is close to both the European and American time zones makes Buenos Aires a convenient place to live for the poker pros. Some plan to save up money for starting different careers in the future when the poker boom may wane, others just stay afloat to enjoy the lavish lifestyle possible in this great city. A way of life most guys in their early 20s can only dream of.

Korean e-sport bizarro

Expanding on the previous post on South Korean TV's live transmission of so-called "e-sport", this is the studio found on top of a shopping mall in central Seoul. The show featured two contestants along with promogirls and three quite enthusiastic presenters.


The live audience largely consisted of teenage girls and nerds like this. Like most others in the audience he had made a sign cheering on his favourite player, ready to lift it up to when the cameras required. Sadly for him, the cameras preferred to focus on the girls' elaborate anime-style drawings of their favourite cute player.

Worse, when two professional players appeared to take a seat in the audience, they pointedly ignored his attempts at communication, understandably rather opting for flirting with the female presence. Nice social microcosm right there.


No introduction of players complete without screams.


Game over!

Global TV: Starcraft, mail-order brides and food porn

While I have not been watching a lot of TV on this round-the-world trip (apart from Argentinian football of course), what I have seen does grant some insight into different cultures. And as always, it is the weird shit that tickles the interest the most.

In South Korea for instance, there are multiple channels broadcasting live matches of the 10-year old computer game Starcraft, still massively popular on the peninsula. The best players are treated as minor celebrities, as I saw when happening upon the TV studio on the top floor of a huge shopping mall. The production was very dramatic and came across as an enthusiastically nerdy sporting event.

The weirdest thing to be seen in Taiwan's late night TV are long shows of Vietnamese brides, who get a five-minute segment each to dance around semi-provocatively in flimsy clothing, while the essential figures about them are displayed, including the number to call if you feel like marrying one. Taiwanese men will spend close to 10k USD for a marriage to be set up, and the business is popular enough that the ethnic demographics of Taiwan are changing. Crass commercialisation of human relations or just efficient marketing?

Cooking shows are also widely popular in Taiwan, but not to the insane degree of Japan. Food porn is always on, and while given the extremely high standard of Japanese cuisine a certain focus in understandable, but not to the obsessive degree of these shows. Frequent, loving pornographic closeups of bubbling dishes are accompanied by tacky music and idiotic commentary. This is all a build-up to the money shot of a celebrity or just an average Joe finally tasting the dish, unfailingly exclaiming "Oishii!" (delicious) with an orgasmic grin, non-pixellated. Apparently this is what Japanese viewers want, certainly there is a telling lack of a debating public sphere in the media. Harmony and harmless food is the order of the day in Japan Inc.

Over in Argentina the national obsession of Maradona-land is of course football. It is everywhere in daily life and of course all over the media. In addition to fluff like interviews on the daily lives of players and their families, there is an in-depth show called "Ping-Pong", which shows every goal chance of the match, adding them up and coming up with a ping-pong score of missed chances, thereby providing an analysis of who really should have won. The ball is, as we know, round. I eagerly await the hypothetical Hooligan: The day-to-day life of an Argentinian mobster.

Love in Lima

Call me a romantic sap, but I found this Peruvian declaration of love rather sweet. Located in the district of Miraflores in Lima it has at least lasted three days at the time of writing, forever might yet prove wildly optimistic. Perhaps a modern-day inspiration from the Nazca lines a bit to the southeast?

Slippery when wet: Taiwanese dating tricks

Getting a scooter is something of a life-changing event for Taiwanese guys. Suddenly they are able to engage in the dating game, and what is more, be assured of actual physical contact with a female, as she bravely holds on. Taiwanese culture dictates a more careful, roundabout approach, far from the rather overt tactics used in Europe, so the scooter ride is a much-needed excuse for closeness.

For some Taiwanese however, this just ain't close enough. Incredibly, a common trick is to oil up the back seat, forcing the girl to slide into the guy whenever he applies the break. And he will, often. When speeding up she has to tightly grip the rider or risk disaster. Which is what happened to one poor guy, asking for a ride with his mate. The seat was prepped for a female and all slippery, however the passenger was less enthusiastic about gripping his buddy. Big mistake, as the first turn saw him flung from the seat, breaking an arm!

Taxi stories

Taxis are naturally a necessity for any traveler, most of the time a fairly routine affair, but what sticks in the mind are the offbeat characters. To wit:

The black Panamanian in Medellin, Colombia. Definitely on something, this guy was the definition of a midnight party taxi. Speeding at 120+ km/h is one thing, but braking in time with the earsplitting techno beats from the solid sound system is quite another!

The Madonna-loving and English-speaking (1 in 100 for Taiwanese taxi drivers) guy in a tiny town in Southern Taiwan. Entered the taxi to "Like a virgin" and proceeding through "Material Girl" and the greatest hits, he kept humming and chatting away in meagre English. Possibly not entirely straight.

Classic porteño driver, who spruced up the ride with a monologue on the merits of salsa vs tango for female sexuality. More specifically, on which dance practise makes for the tightest ass (it is a Buenos Aires thing)! Sadly I have forgotten his eventual conclusion.　

Death by overworking

Probably not for this gentleman, dozing off the effects of soju on a sleepy summer sunday in Seoul. However, a friend of a friend working in Korean company Samsung revealed that last year 16 people died on the job, found slumped on their desks. A number the company has been keen to keep internal to not make waves in the media. Considering Samsung is just one, if a huge one, company among thousands in Korea, 16 is a crazily big number.

The Japanese of course have a word for this manner of passing on, karoshi, and at least some kind of official recognition of the problem, for instance lawsuits have succeeded against some companies. The extremely hardworking Koreans though, seem to have a ways to go still. Putting in an average of 2357 hours a year according to Forbes makes them top of the OECD countries and comes out at almost double that of those lazy Norwegians, Germans and Dutch. Work to live, people.

It has come to this

With the People's Republic putting on the totalitarian excercise in massive propaganda also known as the Olympics, what is the response from unassuming Taiwan? Prepare to be overwhelmed by the 2009 Deaflympics!

Mind the gap

Educational toy of the day is the gapminder. Worth spending some time with the animated national deveolpement from 1950 to 2005 in the two axes of life expectancy and income per person.

For instance, while countries like Japan and Norway sport steady, linear development, Argentina has a zig-zag pattern in tune with the extreme boom and (more likely) bust nature of that economy.

My destination of today, the Baltics, display a circular movement as they struggled to cope with the transition to capitalist economies in the 90s.

And interestingly the awakening bear, Russia, is probably one of very few countries north of the equator with a negative development in life expectancy! Easy on the vodka consumption, Mr Putin.

Are you man enough...

to travel with a huge, pink Hello Kitty suitcase? This Brazilian guy in Salvador sure was.

Furthermore, props to the Salvador airport for having the fastest luggage delivery I have ever seen, when disembarking it was already being loaded unto the conveyor belt. Plenty of smaller airports think 15 minutes is an acceptable wait.

Cash is king

Bring cash. Argentinian confidence in banks rival their lack of faith in the military, police and politicians. All for quite understandable historical reasons of course, having banks literally steal your account does not make for credibility.

Renting apartments for example, is done with cash. Stranger still is the fact that cash is also used for buying apartments. While the process of buying a house can be nerve-wracking enough in Europe or the US (especially these days), imagine the added stress of carrying around a briefcase of 100k+ USD on the streets of Buenos Aires. The atmosphere is pretty tense with buyer and seller sitting around a table counting a wad of notes before the final signatures can be made.

Buildings are popping up all over there place, especially in the trendy bubble of Palermo as in the picture. Prices have been rising phenomenally, but there is a limit to how much influence foreign capital can have. At the moment the costs of apartments are very much out of whack with the general Argentinian economy. So even though prices are still stupidly cheap from a European viewpoint, it is buyer beware, given the extremely cyclical nature of the Argentinian economy. The next crash could see prices dropping 20-40% and with the current centre-periphery conflict the situation is dicey. Rent, with cash.

Love means having to say you're sorry

It is peace in our time, though no love lost, as Uribe wisely dropped the machismo all too common in South-American politics and issued a formal apology for violating the borders of Ecuador. Also dropped were plans of dragging Chavez in front on an international court over his support to the FARC guerillas. The lowering of tensions welcome for Venezuela, who get a major part of their food supplies from Colombia, empty supermarket shelves not uncommon even when normal relations.

The tense meeting of the Organisation of American States in the Dominican Republic ended with the stone-faced trio of Uribe, Correa and Chavez shaking hands, but not until plenty of remarks were exchanged. Highlights include Ecuador's Correa dryly remarking to much laughter that the Dominican hosts better be sure that there were no terrorists on the island, or Uribe would come and bomb them. Uribe was not amused. Later on Argentina's Christina Kirchner scored a gender goal in honour of the International Women's Day, when observing that while women were often accused of hysterics, looking at the reactions of the three implicated heads of state caused one to wonder about male hysteria.

Finally, while tensions are momentarily down, these issues at hand are by no means resolved and are certain to emerge again in the near future. Ecuador is asking for UN troops on the Colombian border, while Colombian plans to publish incriminating evidence from the FARC laptops captured in the raid are sure to again aggravate the neighbours. Interesting times ahead.

Colombia: Friendly relations?

The situation is currently heating up in Colombia. Violating another country's territorial sovereignty is simply not the done thing. And that was what went down a couple of days ago. Colombian planes, while not themselves crossing into Ecuadorian airspace, their payload certainly did, and duly obliterated a patch of Ecuadorian soil. The target was FARC number two man Raul Reyes, who was killed along with a dozen guerrillas. Colombian forces then crossed the border to retrieve his body. The whole operation acted upon CIA-provided information, and was hailed as a successful blow against FARC by the Uribe government.

Naturally Ecuador did not enjoy this brief incursion, issued a strong complaint, closed the embassy and mobilised forces along the border, as did Chavez. Venezuela of course has a long history of unfriendly relations with their neighbours, and the Colombians presenting evidence of Chavez funding FARC is not improving matters. Worse, according to Bogota FARC has plans of building a dirty bomb, although the use of such a barbaric weapon seems extremely counterproductive to gaining popularity in a civil war.

At the moment then, tension is high. All the other South-American countries are appealing for peace and to avoid a confrontation. An armed conflict is simply bad for everyone, particularly so for Venezuela, whose military though much touted by the US as a major threat, is really something of paper tiger despite Chavez’ money-spending policies of guns over butter. In addition to the purges when Chavez took power they have no combat experience, in contrast to the Colombians who have been fighting a low-intensity civil war for decades. And of course, Colombia can rely on assistance from their big brother gringo allies, who would see a war as a wonderful opportunity to finally topple Chavez.

But a war would also be a tragedy for Colombia, its economy been steadily improving the last decade, crime has been massively reduced and generally people are positive about the future. An example is Medellin, where the local government has a commendable progressive policy of building libraries in the poorer areas, as pictured above. Furthermore, in spite of the horrible image the country has abroad, it is not any more a dangerous place to visit than say London or Barcelona. Unless of course, one has a particular predilection for long jungle treks. The country is something of a rare beast; a stable country in a civil war. A real war could destroy much of the gains from the last decade of reconstruction.

Colombian fireworks

The hour is three at night in verdant Medellin, when suddenly someone in the neighbourhood sets off a sizable fireworks display. A celebration? Yes, they just received a call confirming the latest shipment arrived safely in the US! This is a crazy place.

Dancing painter kid

Ginza shopping mall; this amazing multitasking dancer/painter/dj kid drew some crowds. Here painting a portrait of lady in the audience before progressing to landscaping. Yes, I am too lazy to search for a "rotate video" program so just tilt your heads!

More moments of cuteness

Road works is no exception from the cute overload, in this example also pretty practical in the many narrow streets.

And how about this Hello Kitty laptop?

These aren't the terrorists you are looking for

The black-vanned nationalists at it again slap bang in the middle of Shibuya, as always garnering less attention than the most mediocre of J-pop singers.

Since November Japan has adopted US-style immigration procedures including fingerprinting and photographing. Takes a bit of time and also includes a short interview as to the purposes of the visit. The fact that I flew into Nagoya but my hotel and destination was Tokyo caused some problems, having to explain that the reason was a air miles bonus ticket which only applied for Nagoya.

Of course, all officials were ever-so polite, but I cannot help think that the procedure cannot increase the tourism to Japan and most of all felt quite ridiculous. Particularly considering that the only terrorist act perfomed in ultra-safe Japan was done not by foreigners, but by Japanese citizens!