Politeness Meter:
The transition from NYC to Tokyo made it very apparent that there are huge differences between the level of politeness and deference in our respective societies. Now we’re going to track this over the course of our trip on a scale from 1-10.
New York City (for a frame of reference): 4/10
Japan: 10/10
Imagine smiling, bowing TSA and Immigration officials. I’ve never seen a deeper bow than the one given to our Airport bus by the bellhop of the hotel we were departing.
Singapore: 8/10
Our cabbie hollered a “follow me” and made a bee-line for his cab without waiting to see if we were following.
Malaysia: 7/10
Thailand: 2/10
A 0/10 for lying to your face. A 2/10 because some Thais actually are quite friendly when they’re not selling you something.
Lao PDR: 8/10
Not as subservient as the Japanese, but very friendly and accomodating. They’re really willing to go the extra mile:
Cambodia: 5/10
Tuk tuk drivers were very friendly — when you either hired them for the day or promised you’d use them after dinner. The concierge staff at the Meridien was also great, big surprise. But when Simon wanted to have the chargers and stuff he left behind in Phnom Penh sent back to the US, the staff refused.
Vietnam: 6/10
Trying to sell you just as much stuff as anyone else, but they’re more willing to back off when you say “No, thanks.” Friendly when chatting over Bia Hoi. On the other hand, the airport/hotel scam was incredibly blatant, and the Halong Bay booking cancellation was total crap.
Hong Kong: 8/10
The guy selling tea and the wait staff at the Chinese restaurant were very accomodating — either because it was clear we had no idea what we were doing, or because that’s just their idea of service.
Hotness Meter:
No, not temperature.
SJP
- Lao PDR – Vietnam tie
- Singapore-Thailand tie
- Cambodia
- Malaysia
- Japan
MJE
- Lao PDR
- Thailand-Cambodia tie
- Japan-Vietnam tie
- Malaysia
- Singapore
For both of us, Hong Kong was the city for the hottest expat Westerners, not even close!
Mystery Meals:
We’ve given up on this stat. Too many to count.
Days of Intestinal Angst:
As of July 15: 6
Get out of Asia Free Cards:
Sooner or later we will probably be driven to a McDonalds or the like – here is the record of that shame:
- Burger King in Bangkok airport — there was no non-Western food!
- Cheeseburger at Bangkok Sheraton (mike only)
- Cheeseburger at Tonsai restaurant (sjp only)
- The whole week we spent at the beach in Thailand
- Potato chips in Damnoen Saduak and Tonsai
- Pringles and Oreos on 10 hour bus trip btw. Luang Prabang & Luang Namtha
- KFC at Bangkok airport en route to Cambodia
- Pizza in Siem Reap
- Pringles and Pepperidge farm between Phnom Penh and HCMC
Versus
Simon is duking it out Soul Caliber-style with Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” this trip, while Mike is sumo wrestling with David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest.” Here’s the scorecard:
Tolstoy: 0
SJP: 970
Wallace: 0
MJE: 1079
Left Over Currency:
Tokyo – 11,000 Yen ($110) pending return visit
Singapore – .58 SingDollars ($0.35)\
Thailand – 80 Baht ($2)
Lao – 1,000 kip ($.25)
