Brief Highlights: Stops in Zurich, Dubai (still fascinating, even a 2nd time), Bahrain (sleepy watering hole for Saudis but a real nice Meridien resort and the largest US fleet outside NATO), Singapore (advanced civilization with gorgeous gardens everywhere but sticky and somewhat sanitized), Bangkok (some interesting temples to see but a real shit-hole outside your 5-star hotel where everything seems to revolve around nights of cheap thrills), Koh Samui, Thailand (island paradise worth knowing about), Hong Kong (a bit more expensive but serves its purpose well), Beijing (some HUGE sites and lots of stairs to climb), Seoul (been there, done that), Tokyo and surrounding areas (better than I expected, 2nd time around), Seattle (was definitely sleepless there by this time, but it’s a nice little city to poke around). 22 days, in case you were wondering. The point of this trip is to learn more about Asia and to compare and contrast its capitals. What I saw either met or exceeded expectations and I learned the things I thought I needed to know and which you will find out in this commentary. Iran would have been visited on this trip except that non-Americans said it wasn’t safe to visit now and the waiting time for a visa is 2 weeks which is too long to wait when planning such an extensive itinerary. In any event, the country is not moving forward so we can all wait a few years more.
ZURICH – return visit. See notes from several earlier visits.
16 April (Monday)…Miami/Zurich 8:40 flying time; every seat sold but still comfortable. Over the years I have switched from window to aisle seats as these flights all get more tight. The MD-11 has no entertainment system aboard but I have a good conversation with a Danish student on break. (Tuesday) You know you’re in Zurich when you see 3 traffic signals at an intersection, in case you have any doubts; lots of signs and colors; greenery. Public exhibitions (ie: Landsmuseum) has a garden with pictures of earth’s aerial views. 531AM radio with swiss folk music all the time. Clocks everywhere outside my 20th floor hotel window. Sorta like Assad’s pictures all over Damascus that I saw last year from my window. Sliding doors open and close quickly here. Lunch at a vege restaurant in center city “Hilos.” Tea and cake at Springley’s on the Bahnhoffstrasse. Nice rooftop views and swimming pool at the Swissotel, midway between the city center and the airport. Dinner was pizza with pineapple and cherries. (Wednesday) Taxi in the morning to get Emad’s motorcycle parts (which he didn’t realize already arrived in the mail). Airport still has free internet services.
DUBAI – return visit. See 1999 notes.
5:30 flight time; again full. I am sitting next to a very fat woman from an African country who speaks only French. Airport has been redone and now processes very quickly; no advance visas anymore here or Bahrain. No fees here. Hotel Intercontinental Dubai has beautiful lounge on 10th floor with 24 hours PC and food. Lots of rich Arabs with pretty girls at the rooftop lounges. Met Emad and we walked the corniche and late night snacked in the coffee shop. I’m in a suite for $250 plus 20% tax and service but it’s a nice way to arrive after so much flying. (Thursday) Viren’s assistant Sandeep met me; lunch at Viren’s apartment. Vege Indian lunch with wife and smart kids. Viren is a deep thinker who just finished a year’s sabbatical observing IT trends in the US and around the world. Then to Emad’s house for late lunch. Flight delayed so dinner at the funkily decorated airport buffet; great deal for less than $10. New airport is beautiful with standing palm trees, lots of marble and modern architecture and color, but too much walking. A tram might have been useful, even with all the walking sidewalks.
BAHRAIN
50 minute flight to Bahrain on Gulf Air; full flight. Lots of traffic on this route as 2 airlines have almost hourly flights. Plane is an A-330 with every possible amenity available today in an airline seat. Bahrain Airport is small and decent, but not Dubai. No full system of jetways for arriving flights. Taxi to hotel; tons of traffic on the main road but I am told it was abnormal. Trip should normally take about 20 minutes. Taxis have meters but they don’t use them; they charge pretty high prices but drivers are all Bahrainis so this is their license to steal. Meridien Resort very luxurious with pool area waterfalls, man-made lagoon and beach, ballrooms very grand, and a few restaurants, all very impressive for about $200 per night including tax. Friday and Saturday are mild days to lounge around and do very little. Two hour talk with Marwan; lunch and shuttle to the city and its National Museum. Sleepy town although there is political and economic reform going on with a new more egalitarian and with-it ruler; banks and corporations are responding. Chase and Citibank have big buildings here and law firms and multi-nationals are locating here as well. At the museum, there is a food festival with lots of men in thobes (white robes) and women in ninja outfits. First real Ivan Adventure of the trip. I’m walking around this festival for locals and I clearly don’t fit in as I am walking around in Western clothes; if anyone said “Yo, he’s Jewish”, there would have probably been a riot. Actually, it seemed very friendly and clearly families were out enjoying the day walking around a lot. Some people were in groups chanting Koran, and many were just plain eating. The music was good too. I spent some time on the cellphone chatting up Ayman who got caught in a closing in Jeddah and who was supposed to have met me in Bahrain. Museum had a children’s exhibit about environmentalism. This is a world issue. Just because people wear thobes doesn’t mean they’re not fashionable. Some had gold cufflinks, and you could see watches, CD and cellphone headsets and some young people even had walking sticks as well to match their golden eyeglasses. A real contrast. Good thing I arranged with my taxi driver to pick me up after an hour; otherwise I would have been stuck there as there were no taxis. The Seef shopping center is 5 minutes from the hotel. Huge tuna fish sandwich in one of the coffee shops. The center has a Marks and Spencers and Debenhams but again this is not Dubai. My driver Abdullah takes me sightseeing. The whole island is about 50 km long and can be seen in a few hours. Went to a fort (saw some US navy guys on bicycles taking the day off), drove to the Saudi border by causeway for tea at the rooftop restaurant (very hazy and dirty windows). Rifaat is a nice neighborhood with nice houses, king’s palace and the king’s mosque. Visited an elderly gent who does weaving; nice materials but useless for me. Bait Al-Kuran – museum dedicated to the Koran with lots of manuscripts. National Museum closes at 2:30 so I missed it. Car and driver is about $30 an hour here. Dinner in the hotel’s Italian restaurant; very high level of service here in the Gulf, even fawning at times. I was wished Happy 35th Birthday 5x today and given a cake upon arrival that night in Dubai by the hotel brought by a butler with a candle and icing on the plate. (The hotel staff are usually at PC terminals and they get flashed a message when they ask me which room I’m in that tells them it’s my birthday which they flag from the birthdate which they ask you for at registration.) Mother sent you, right Richard?
Dinner with Ian Braumin of the Gulf International Bank. Quite intelligent person to share a dinner with. Some good etiquette tips for this region: Don’t show the soles of your feet to another person (meaning don’t sit with crossed legs) and don’t eat with your left hand (the dung hand) — (that’s a real problem if you’re a left-handed but I’m told people just learn how to adjust!) One of my colleague’s friends didn’t show up on Saturday morning and I didn’t care; had my own little island with private coves and a lighthouse. Also the resort has the Royal Sporting Club. There is a Gulf Countries GCC conference and lots of dignitaries coming in and they wear very extravagant robes. My partner Baruki would love it; all these 6 footers getting out of their Porsches in their long white robes folding their sunglasses and holding their cellphones and worry beads and strutting around the valet car park like they own the place. Walk along seaside and then to airport. Quite unimpressive airport but did feature a pianist in the lobby.
DUBAI AGAIN
Flight again sold out. I am heading back to Dubai; my visit to Kuwait is off because my friend has a family medical emergency and Dubai is certainly worth more time; anyway, I have been to Kuwait in 1998. Also Kuwait still needs visas and it is a cumbersome task. Getting rid of travel visas is definitely where the world is going. Sheraton Diera is near the airport but loud and a taxi ride to everywhere. Staff very friendly and internationally diverse. Upgraded me to a business floor room; wooden floor and cheap slippers but a steal for $39 a night. I actually wouldn’t mind wearing these white robes which are comfortable and take the guesswork out of dressing; LBC is a good TV channel for young people from Lebanon with music and dancing; the Arabs have good taste in music, hotels and dress and I can certainly say that they dress better than Asians and Americans, although I still think the Europeans maintain the lead. How far the veneer of civility goes beyond what you see in public I don’t know, but it’s nice at the top. And yes, they don’t all wear white robes all the time.
When you check into a hotel here, they ask “What is your good name (family name)?” Sunday afternoon I go with car and driver for a city tour (figure about $35 an hour) and we see the founding Sheikh’s old house and old city remnants and there my cellphone brought me the first calls from home. There are some lovely views of the city and its skyline from various vantage points. Then to Jumeirah and the Burj Al-Arab Hotel which is a mix of Las Vegas and Disney World. Almost garish. Rooms are duplex suites for a couple thousand a night and there is heavy security with receptionist on each floor. People pay $20 just to walk around the lobby and shopping arcade. I impressed my driver with getting in without paying since I am a travel agent. Visited Sheikh Mahmoud’s palace which appeared to be very impressive (looked like gold covers the entire house). He owns shares in all the big hotels. Rode the King’s Highway back to the City; lots of the Emir’s pictures all over the place, after all, it’s his highway. Actually, everything in the Emirates that is important belongs to the royal family. All the hotels, everything. Seems silly to have 10% tax on top of your bill when the government is already the majority partner. Visited the Emirates Tower Hotel, quite striking architecture in a very interesting district of new-age buildings and where I enjoyed a pretty sunset. Evening out with Emad’s brother and some of his friends, all IT-oriented students at local colleges. They card under 21’s here; don’t even let them into certain places. Three were Palestinian, one was Lebanese. Visited the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and then to a nearby place for shisha (pipe-smoking) and cocktails. If an Emiri beats you up at school and you are Palestinian, you take it because if you fight back, you could get into real trouble. Lovely living in a place where you have no rights.
I thought my room the first night was noisy with the airplanes and wooden floor (bad idea for hotels as it absorbs no noise) so I had them change it. For some strange reason, my room in the hotel is now above a disco and it is techno till 3am. People in the lobby are waiting for rooms; there is a convention in Dubai. Taxi to airport is cheaper than taxi from airport. New express lane to the airport. Finally a plane that is more empty than full. Sat with a fellow from Iraq, now in Oman with his family. Has lived in Indiana, Sydney, Riyadh, UK and is now in university in Sydney. 6 foot 4, black belt, father was in Iraqi army as a doctor in a war against Israel. Good conversation, as with Marwan and Ian. The Israel issue is not very interesting right now to talk about; more than anything, apathy rules now that earlier hopes have turned to disappointment and it is clear that several years will pass before good things happen and yet the final outcome will not be much different than that which was earlier expected. But no one can do anything about the interim, it seems. Both the Israelis and the Arabs are convinced that they are in the right; they are both rather stubborn right now supporting their respective leaders, and there is little sense that negotiations would lead anywhere in the present circumstances. Interestingly, newspapers all over – Europe, Middle East, Asia – report the daily news from that area as major news, so it is not just a US media fascination. Also realized on this trip how much the evening newscasts from the 3 major US networks are rebroadcast in Asia and the Gulf within an hour; certain people obviously want to watch the US newscasts. Some Oman insights: Omanis talk for hours about fighting but then eventually settle things out. Appearing to have good connections is very important for getting your way. People must fear you or your class in order to give you space. The Sultan of Oman might well be gay, but he who finds out about it tends to get hurt.
DUBAI-KUALA LAMPUR-SINGAPORE
Flight is 6:40 to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia on Malaysia Airlines, quite good but nothing extraordinary. It’s the only morning flight from Dubai eastward this far and leaves at 9:30. It is on the way from New York. Arrives in KL at 8pm and you can be in Singapore by 10. Beautiful new airport with monorail. Took a transfer flight to Singapore, about 30 minutes flight away. Singapore Airlines is a breed apart even for a short flight and its flight attendants are real ambassadors for Singapore. Such orderly Asians – Not! They called boarding for the Singapore flight by rows and everyone just got up and ran to board.
SINGAPORE
Singapore airport on arrival offers lots of walking but speedy processing and seems designed to handle large crowds. Funny but the first guy I run into at the ATM is an Israeli talking into his cellphone; maybe it’s exaggerated because I can detect Hebrew but Israelis seem to be everywhere you go, except in the Arab countries and so now I know I’m out of the Middle East! Taxi to hotel is cheap and quick – $10 in 20 minutes. I was shocked when I found out that I got the conversion rate mixed up and my taxi was $10 instead of the $20 I thought I had paid. Within 10 minutes I’ve noticed something more profound – the taxi driver neither speaks nor reads English but all the signs on the highway and streets are only in English. How does he get around? He’s an elderly gent – he ignores the signs. The Sheraton Towers Singapore has all these push-buttons by the bed so there is no need to ever get up (problem is you can’t see the buttons in the dark so you wind up pushing all of them at once and you can imagine what happens); also a wide-screen TV. But no 24 hour restaurant or business center. I have gained 4 hours flying east today and I am ready for another Ivan Adventure, this time the midnight search for a tuna sandwich in Singapore. Walked to Newton Circus, the designated 24 hour eating area of Singapore, but it’s all Asian food. Should’ve eaten at the airport Burger King when I had the chance. Taxi to Raffles Hotel, the one sure spot in town where colonialists hung their hats and today known as one of the world’s best hotels. Yet no food service open at 11. But the bellman sent me to Denny’s which is next to the Mandarin Hotel at the Marina. Turns out the guy sitting next to me at Denny’s was on my flight and also on the prowl for a midnight sandwich. So few places in Singapore to eat after 10. The taxi on the way back to the hotel got lost; both in the Gulf and in Asia there are often no U-turns for quite a while and this can lead people astray. We wind up in some dark residential neighborhood and the man can’t stop apologizing. “This is very bad…very bad.” He must have said that at least 10 times. Now it’s 2am and I’m back in the hotel looking at the official guide book to Singapore which is placed in all hotel rooms. It, along with all kinds of brochures, does a great job of preparing the tourist to make decisions as to what to do. Newspaper is quite lively although more in the collective public interest than partisan and this is actually a relief.
Tuesday in Singapore: Woke up at 1; lunch with Bruce sitting in for my colleague William (who winds up being in New York for the first time in at least 9 years at the same time that I wind up being in Singapore for the first time). We try sampling some food at Newton Circus and then take the subway to Raffles City shopping mall where I see things from Bruce’s insider perspective meaning I see a shopping mall and he sees a place to pick up people. There are tons of malls here. Raffles is the name of a famous Englishman who governed Singapore. I return to the Raffles Hotel bakery where you can get tea and pastries for one-third the price of the hotel’s tea buffet. Prices here are very reasonable for food, even at the 5-star level. Maybe because there are lots of cheap eats around. Near the hotel are intersections with signs counting down the seconds before the light changes so you know exactly how long you have to walk across the street. The Hotel has beautiful gardens and it turns out that nearly all the city – heck, the island – is one big garden path and there is an army of groundskeepers working round the clock. Lovely residential buildings; looks like the best street in the upscale Miami-area neighborhood of Bal Harbour with landscaping everywhere. Walked to Suntec City which is a business development designed around Hi-Tech companies built by a Hong Kong billionaire featuring the Fountain of Wealth, said to be one of the world’s largest fountains with a DJ spinning requested tunes and an evening light and laser show. This should only be visited between 8-10pm as the fountain is off during the day. For a good view, go to the garden park overlook from level 3 of the SunTec city main shopping plaza area. Nearby is the Pan-Pacific Hotel which has some glass elevators in the rear of the lobby which go to the rooftop restaurant. In the afternoon, you get a wonderful view of the whole cityscape and the nearby waterfront. The other hi-views are at the Westin (but which was under renovation when I visited) and the Mandarin Oriental on Orchard Road in another part of the city altogether. There is a mix of clouds and sun; very humid. Dinner at the hotel with codfish and desert buffet. The Sheratons are not all the same but they are very good with food for the light-stomached tourist I am.
Returned to the Fountain of Wealth to see the evening show (no big deal) and then off to the Night Safari. Took about a half hour to get there. Roads get congested during rush hour, even though the island has ERP which is very cool. Your car carries a debit card which is read by a laser as you pass through various points around the city; if you want to drive on certain streets at certain times of the day, you pay for the privilege. Nevertheless, people still are not deterred and there is plenty of traffic. Some drivers sit on the edge of the road just before “free time” begins, creating a traffic jam (and accidents) which is exactly what the planners did not intend to happen. Here the signs are very friendly; after some road construction, the sign says “Thank you for your cooperation.” There are tons of signs telling you more than you want to know. It is as if they have transplanted a nation of Yekkes (German-Yiddish literally meaning tight-jackets or, in the vernacular, tight-assed automatons) from Germanic Switzerland to the middle of Asia, except that they are twice as eager to please at half the price. Night Safari is a tram-ride and walk through a zoo without cages letting you observe nocturnal animals and animals at night, such as lions and hippos. On the foot paths, you observe mainly occasional tourists. I went at 10 and was out by 11:30.
Wednesday: Another late morning with some breakfast and e-mail before meeting my guide Art at noon for a city tour. Here it is about $50 an hour for a car, guide and driver which is pretty expensive. We see some nice homes, hear some pro-Singapore propaganda but the fact is that the leader of Singapore has delivered the goods and the people appreciate it. Government workers received a 35% bonus this year because the government had a good year. There is a crazy work ethic – you work to eat. Forget about work to live. No real recreation for Singaporeans. Visited the botanical gardens to see some orchids; no big deal unless you’re into these. Then to a Bird Park for another monorail ride featuring a man-made waterfall. There are tourist attractions here in Singapore but they do not compare to those of nature and are no big deal. However, the Night Safari is quite enough for me; I don’t really want to see these animals any closer. We visited the cablecar but it is not worth going on because you are far away from the city and don’t see much. Then drove to center city; beautiful buildings in the financial districts; there is a whole area by the seaside left open for future development. The city-state has a 40 year plan and it is followed meticulously. Some colonial buildings and a church. The guide compared Singapore to Israel several times – they are always contingency planning, not reliant on any ally and diversify their foreign reserves and keep them outside the country. Visited Little India, Arab Street (which also features a synagogue) and China Town. Singapore sanitizes these areas till they all look the same (hmm, Ethnic Cleansing) and puts up little signs to tell you which area you are now visiting. OK, so I am exaggerating but only a little bit. Quick visit to the National Museum to see some history. It seems like every day I am visiting some other National Museum to see more pottery, costumes and royal coin collections. It must be awful boring being Vice President.
DeliFrance is a chain of French-style sandwich and pastry shops. It is excellent in Singapore; Denny’s was also better than I am used to. The DeliFrance product is slightly inferior in Hong Kong, totally inferior in Bangkok and non-existent elsewhere I visited which gives you an idea of how the eating went in the various locales.
On the way to the airport, passed through Orchard Road and the main shopping street which I had earlier not seen because the Sheraton Towers and the Raffles Hotel are in different parts of town. Very nice and I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to walk it.
By 4:30 I am at the airport for my 5:30 flight to Bangkok. This airport is way cool. Big chairs with interior speakers and recliners and 42 inch widescreen TV’s. I think my roommate would never leave this place if he found it. They have areas dedicated to News, Sports, Movies and the areas are all decorated around the themes and you watch the TV’s in each area that you want to watch. Each TV watches a different network. Singaporeans really enjoy High-Definition TV. Thai Airlines didn’t have my vege meal because the concierge didn’t know to mention it when he reconfirmed my reservation; moral of the story is to reconfirm your own reservations because they lose all your special requests if you don’t mention them again. It’s a 2 hour flight, and yes, those disciplined Asians got up before the flight reached the gate to get ready to deplane. Actually, it’s just the Chinese who act this way. Later in the week with Koreans and Japanese, it will be much quieter.
Some special things about Singapore: (1) The road to the airport is winding and has trees covering it. All of a sudden, the road is straight and the trees part to the sides of the road. Turns out the dividers in the median are removable and you’re on an emergency runway for jet fighters. There is a siege mentality; the Malaysians and Indonesians are Islamists and these are threats to the secular Chinese who run the place. Also, they remember the Japanese occupied the place with barely a fight from the British. (2) Those countdown clocks at intersections. (3) To counter the Yekke comparison I made earlier: The Singaporeans are analytical and pragmatic, but they act. The Swiss-Germans overanalyze and don’t act. So sayeth an executive who knows the area who has dealt with both types. Also, this is not a jacket and tie place. The metro is not air conditioned and the climate is hot and sticky. We are less than 100 miles from the equator, but Bangkok is further north and more awfully hot and sticky. (4) 76% are Chinese and all signs are in English but many don’t really know it. The government has mandated that the population shall not fall under 70% Chinese. The country’s government decided in 1973 that everyone must know Mandarin. Then 15 years later it decided everyone must know English. The younger ones go along; the older ones just ignore the signs. (5) For a place that is small with a fairly small expatriate community, I was surprised to see a local version of The Price is Right gameshow, complete with a studio of expats and prices in Singaporean dollars. The guy in the airport thought the show was American; he didn’t consider the Singaporean dollars. (6) Singapore and its people see the country in active competition with other Asian countries. It was interesting to see this kind of things going on in the Gulf; some ranking comes out of the top 50 countries and each emirate is boasting how it is Number 23 or Number 24 or 2nd best in the Gulf, or best in the Gulf. I know this because I was reading all the different papers on the airplanes. (7) Chewing gum: You won’t find it for sale anywhere. You can bring some of it in but you cannot sell it and you must discard it neatly if you chew it. That’s a serious offense here because of the very nasty things that can happen when you start throwing chewing gum around. (8) Money doesn’t buy you around the law here. There is pride in the sense that there is no corruption here and that even a Ross Perot is not above the law. There is so much wealth here and people are so busy that money doesn’t deter people. Shame does. If you litter, they will put a uniform on you, bring in the TV cameras, have you play janitor for a few hours in a public space and show it on TV. This is worse than death for people here. (9) Cheap local calls from hotel phones at about 7 cents a call. (10) If you pass through Singapore airport with at least 5 hours connection time, you can sign up for a free tour of Singapore. This is a place that really spends money and effort to impress people. It works! It’s a place that has no real compelling reason to be visited except that it is an experiment that is working and should be observed by those that want to see various aspects of human potential being realized. The Singaporean model is not for everyone, but it is working well for Singapore. One thing is for sure – if there is any abject poverty, you won’t see it in Singapore. It either doesn’t exist or is exceedingly well hidden.
BANGKOK
Arrived at dusk; first sight of Thailand was the rice patties along the ocean, which is what I expected to see. Airport is simple and quick. Transfer to the hotel is about 25 minutes, most of it on the new tollway that connects the city to the airport. Very nice rooms in both the Singapore and Bangkok Sheratons. I am at the Royal Orchid Sheraton on the river. Here the taxi ride is about $7. The hotel is sumptuous but look right across the street and you will see shanties. Hotel is a bustle of activity along the river with plenty of food and shopping to keep you busy. Taxied to the night market; accosted every 5 feet by someone offering me a prostitute. Every taxi driver is also pitching this. $30 will get you one for the night. Nobody speaks English; the price came down from 900 baht to 300 baht for an item in the marketplace, so bargaining is essential. Rather sad that the whole nightlife in Bangkok for tourists revolves around this market and the sex trade. Thais are more likely to go to a Thai Boxing match and in context the number of people who make up the entire tourist sex trade is minuscule. Hotel internet café is ISDN and a bit slow here which tells you how good all the other internet connections everywhere else in the Gulf and in Asia. Coffee and cake in the hotel lobby is $4; grilled cheese and fries at the hotel coffee shop riverside; late night tuna sandwich runs in Bangkok are out of the question. (Thursday) As I flew to Singapore, I looked at the map of Asia now that I was flying an Asian airline and realized my initial routing of Bangkok-Beijing-Hong Kong-Seoul was a zig-zag and it would be better to go Bangkok-Hong Kong-Beijing-Seoul. So I spent part of the morning switching the ticket to shave off 5 hours of flying time and a few hundred dollars (which I will give back on the forfeited tickets). Made a few calls but the hotel’s booking agent came through with good fares and tickets. Hotels here are palaces and the Intercontinental in the city center is quite impressive with 26 acres of gardens.
At noon I set out with car and guide to the Golden Buddha, the Reclining Buddha, the National Palace and the National Museum. The Buddhist temples are very ornamental but though strong on labor, the material is actually cheap. See 3 temples in 3 hours and you’ve had enough. Mostly without air conditioning and it’s really hot out and hard to keep from getting impatient; temperature is in the 90’s with high humidity. Hard to make myself understood – nobody speaks English and they don’t seem too quick on the uptake here. They are also a bit glazed – you talk to someone and then you don’t know if they are dealing with your request or just spacing out. When they talk, it all sounds like tuck, tuck, tuck… They say Yes to everything and then you realize later they understand nothing. The sewer system is not good here, the city is yuck and except for a few nice streets near the palace, it’s all seedy and around the level of Turkey’s Istanbul and actually looks worse than Syria which is pretty poor but more orderly and clean but not miserably poor. Maybe it’s just the fact that it’s close to 100 degrees outside. Most Thais don’t think about worldly issues; mostly preoccupied with work. No real enemies except maybe the Burmese but in reality the world is far away. That must be why Israelis love it here. Salary here is about $1 an hour. Bottled water is cheap at 25 cents for tourists. Taxi within center city areas is about $1. Dinner buffet at the Sheraton is about $20; same at the Intercontinental or the Oriental. After temples, drove around city and hit tons of traffic. 5 hours with car, driver and guide came to about $100 with tips. Went with guide at 5pm to a place where he goes for his Thai massage; this is a real part of life here. Costs about $15 and lasts 2 hours. They knock you around a bit and I heard my neck crack. The ladies who are the masseurs sit in a glass room and you pick the one you want. There were quite a few little girls there who shouldn’t be there. At 7, took the new skytrain to Siam Center with a shopping center and the Intercontinental. It is a cheap subway to you and me, but almost unaffordable to a Thai though people are using it. 4 flights of stairs to reach the station, and 3 more to the train. No elevators or escalators. Pretty stupid but fast and cheap (25 cents to a dollar based on distance) and you can get across town in under half an hour. Returned to hotel with skytrain plus a taxi. Italian buffet delicious; best desert chef so far. Met my colleague Tip who is an attorney at a local firm. Said Thailand is beginning to change but too slowly. He works hard. I’m looking forward to leaving Bangkok; so far Asia is what I expected which is not much. Bangkok would be a miserable place to be stuck for the sabbath because you don’t go walking 50 feet from the hotel so I am off to Koh Samui.
Some more thoughts about Thailand. Everywhere you go on the tourist route, there is all this tiki-bird type music (ie: in my hotel room or at the airport). The King and the royal family are worshipped as religious leaders. Thais take off shoes when entering your room even to clean it. After being in Europe with VAT and service often included, here in Asia sales tax and service is tacked on as it is in the US. These markups are a good 15-20 percent and it is somewhat misleading when you look at the prices. Also, in Asia (unlike Europe), there are lots of airport taxes and it’s a good idea to know if you already paid the tax in your ticket or if you need to keep some currency around. In several cases, my tax had already been paid in the ticket and I carried the extra currency for no good reason until I exchanged it for a hefty commission (which was still better than having to pay the fee twice).
Friday: 3 hour wrap-up tour. Vimarmeck Mansion: biggest old teak house in the world. European influence in an Asian palace built turn of century. See some side buildings with various exhibits. Then to Jim Thompson’s house – nice architecture and interiors. These two spots today are decorated; yesterday, I saw a bunch of empty rooms. Here and in China and Korea, the treasures from the great sites were looted, either to Taiwan or Japan. At Jim Thompson’s house, there is a nice lounge for lunch – as you sit in your lovely sofa, you can see the shanties just across the little river. Lunch buffet at the Oriental Hotel is very lavish. Thais seem honest but the taxi driver to the airport quoted a price using the toll road and then decided not to use it so we got stuck in traffic till I got him to switch. The toll road is built right on top of the regular road; it costs a dollar but again this is lots of money to Thais. The road is empty and the road below is packed. Same deal with the tollways above some of the city streets. The :25 minute trip to the airport took about :35 which mattered since I was arriving for my flight with about 40 minutes to spare.
KOH SAMUI, THAILAND
Bangkok Airways is a really nice domestic airline; one of the best I’ve ever flown. They have full flights and poshy terminals with free internet, snacks and play areas. Even separate seating areas for monks. 1:10 flight to Koh Samui; sit right for downtown Bangkok (thought city is often covered with haze) and sit left for best island views. Mostly over water. No taxis at airport which is a few huts (although very tastefully decorated) and tiki music playing all the time. Must arrange pick up in advance; the hotel has sent someone to fetch me and has a person full time just assisting people at the airport. The Santiburi Resort (part of the Thai Dusit chain) is the only 5 star resort on the island of Koh Samui. When you check in, someone is kneeling at your side serving you coconut juice and handling your registration. For my $200 a night including taxes and fees, you get a villa with a bedroom, living room and bathroom for 2, a nice porch and a garden. The floors are solid wood, the bathroom is marble, the furniture is Jim Thompson style and very lavish, there is a video, CD, a plate of fruits along with a brochure about Thai Fruits, and a 100 page hotel information guide. Nevertheless, there is not much to do and most public spaces in the hotel are not air conditioned (though rooms are). Most staff don’t speak English. Still, they are very friendly and the best for miles around. They know your name as there are only 65 rooms. Hotel has its own vegetable and spice garden. Tonight is pasta night at the pool; there is lots of service and no tipping because so many people serve you that it would be endless tipping and anyway a 10% service charge is tacked onto the daily rate. Many different languages are spoken; few if any Americans are here. In the afternoon, I have a 2 hour island tour. Chaweng is the “city” – maybe that’s where the term “Shawing” used by Dana Carvey in Wayne’s World comes from. There is a Big Buddha on the beach, a little waterfall, some rocks, a trained monkey who picks coconuts from trees (a good one can pick 1,000 a day and the island’s economy is built around coconuts). Lots of Hebrew signs on the island and “shnitzel houses” aplenty; Israelis are obviously here and lots of backpackers enjoying all night beach parties. No sewer system; a little shower and the roads flood. Lots of one lane roads. There is a McDonalds and Starbucks in Chewang; not even here can you escape it. Also a good internet connection. The island is downmarket, but my resort is primo. The hotel has a Jim Thompson shop and I buy shirts and other items as gifts as they are nice and reasonably priced.
Saturday I am at the hotel and there is wading at the beach and a huge swimming pool; water temperature here is about 90 degrees / 32 degrees centigrade and for me that means it is warm enough to get wet. They bring you cold water to drink and cold face towels. As said before, tremendous service and everyone is smiling and saying Hello. In the afternoon, I participate in a Thai Boxing lesson along with a British fellow taking his holiday. It is too hot to eat dinner outside, so I have the Australian chef (who can speak English and Thai) direct the staff to have a tuna sandwich delivered to the part of the hotel lobby that is air conditioned along with some homemade chocolate ice cream and juice. The hotel food is good, especially considering that almost all of the components come from somewhere else. The Koh Samui airport is best flown out of at night because there is no air conditioning. They take a $10 airport tax so I guess they are building something. At night, flight back to Bangkok; they are serving duck for dinner and then ice cream on the one hour flight. I didn’t know they were serving food and so didn’t think to order vege so I am glad I already ate.
BACK TO BANGKOK
Back at the Sheraton, they know me already and it is good around here to be a repeat customer. With only a 20 minute ride to and from the airport using the tollway, an overnight stop in Bangkok is real easy. When leaving Bangkok, get your VAT refund papers stamped BEFORE passport control; get the refund in cash after passport control.
HONG KONG – Return Visit. See 1998 notes.
Sunday…It’s a 2:20 flight to Hong Kong at 11 this morning and Cathay Pacific is a very good airline. Another full flight. Sit right for this flight. At Hong Kong the express train is great and just 20 minutes to Kowloon station and then a $3 taxi ride to the Hyatt so allow a total of 45 minutes for the transfer. There are private taxi corridors at the station (Go to Door #2 for your taxi, sir.) Ugly views at this hotel which is in an old building but centrally located. Food and beverage is rather expensive; I am in sticker shock after Thailand and Singapore. Walked to shopping malls; some stores are closed on Sunday. Prices all seem high and service is a bit less friendly; smiles are more forced here. I’m not getting much at the Hyatt for $140 a night; in Koh Samui my villa’s base rate was $165 . A quick note here: I am getting ridiculous travel agent discounts. $49 a night in Bangkok; $59 in Beijing and Singapore; $79 in Tokyo and $39 in Dubai. Consider becoming a travel agent; ask me how if you want to know where. You just pay a fee and sign a paper.
Back to British style signs: At the airport, a sign says “Relax…The Train will be here in 3 minutes.” Consider that I keep inching eastward and westward so I am always picking up or losing an hour with each hop. But it’s nice to be roughly in the same time zone for almost a week now. The price for a suit that I pay is normally about $400 for 130-strength wool. I have been here before so after about 10 minutes, I remember my way around and am directing other tourists. There is not much to know here. The water promenade along the Regency Hotel is still impressive with views of the Hong Kong side skyline. Bangkok is too spread out to have a cityscape. Dinner at the Holiday Inn deli and some take out from there as well; it is a safe bet for years now for me and my family.
Monday…10am at the British Tailor in the Regency Hotel shopping center (Peter So, proprietor, tel. 2721.5891). It’s the cut, not the number of fittings that count and I am here because this tailor has a reputation for getting it right the first time. Last time I was here I sat through 5 fittings and they never really got it right. Of course, I am paying more for the privilege (an extra $200 for this suit). I return at 5pm for a fitting with the tailor who has made a shell of the suit. No need to return says Jong. He says I am actually pretty easy to tailor (maybe since I’m built like an Italian or an Asian). Then to Baldwins at 7A Lock Road (behind the Hyatt, parallel to Nathan Road) for kiddie silk pajamas at $6 a pair. DeliFrance and Haagen Daaz are in the basement of the Hyatt. I visit my other tailor David Wan at Charles & Company on the second floor of the shopping center adjoining the Hong Kong Hotel on Canton Road (tel. 2366.6466)to order and replace items for summer and next winter. Time for an Ivan Adventure: Taxi to the old Kai Tak airport, now a place for go-karts, car sales and government offices. I go on the elevators above the terminal building and look around and then hop a taxi to drive to the old runway and try to get a sense of what it used to be like when jumbo jets landed at the old airport and came down between people’s apartments with their laundry hanging out, but no one can understand what I am asking about so I make mental notes and figure I’ll talk to pilots once I return to the US. Return to the city to see the Art Museum; admission is just over $1 thanks to some rich patrons who subsidize this. Good Chinese art; lots of landscapes hung vertically as well as horizontally. Few people portrayed in pictures. Then to a special photographic exhibit in a nearby cultural center. A good mix of old and new in an hour. Tea at the Peninsula Hotel had a long line waiting and I think the Palm Court at the Plaza in New York City is a nicer room. The orchestra plays at noon, not at tea time. The Sheraton next door has a tea buffet in its rooftop lounge and it is a much better deal for $12 with hot and cold foods and a good view. A stroll back to the British Tailor for the 5pm fitting, a walk through Kowloon park (but it is sooo hot and sticky) and return to hotel for a shower and dinner. Central Park in New York City is actually quite good in comparison to most of the parks I’ve seen in these cities. There is a lot of shanty and sweat in Hong Kong; Singapore is also hot but nicer and cheaper.
Evening dinner at the Movenpick Marche at Victoria’s Peak. The taxi there takes 30 minutes and costs $13. Dinner was a bit disappointing; salad bar not stocked well for over an hour. But you can have a fish freshly cooked and it is pick what you eat. Windows are dirty, desserts are fair. Return via the Peak Tram and the Star Ferry took about 45 minutes including a 10 minute wait for the tram. One-fourth the price of the taxi and even less if you walk from the Peak Tram station in Hong Kong about 10 minutes to the Star Ferry instead of taking the shuttle bus. As I eat dinner at this reserved choice table overlooking Hong Kong, my thoughts are why so many capitalists are always crowding into such small island states? Today, with Internet and good telecom, why cram for space? I have been a bit unfair to Hong Kong on this trip because I have spent most time in Kowloon; the Hong Kong side is much more sleek although tunnels cram up and there is no EZ-Pass kind of thing being used here yet (scanners deducting tolls as you ride through the gate). Hotels are still short on space when compared to other places. Visited the dark inside concert hall at the Victoria Exhibition Center which is where the turnover ceremony took place in 1997 – my last world tour (I had just arrived in Cyprus only to find out that no station was covering it live). The Business Center at the Hyatt is closed but they open it for me and I pay a heavy price ($20 for :45) for a fairly slow ISDN connection. Hyatt is a bit crummy on technology here in Asia, I am finding. Dr. Scholl’s insoles are still available here according to the size of one’s shoe (instead of one size fits all) but the shape of feet is very different here and the price of an insole is 50% more than in the US.
Some conversations Tuesday morning: Hong Kong has accepted China pretty well, which so far is behaving as well as can be expected; I saw Falun Gong demonstrations at entrance to Star Ferry in Kowloon; one colleague hopes that China will “protect” Hong Kong.
I am quite glad I travel with my own pillow. Most hotels do not have comfortable pillows.
Sticking to bottled water, even if tap water is marginally safe, saves you the cramping of diarrhea which can last a good couple days.
Departure to airport is great using the speedtrain. You can check in at the train station; allow an hour to get from the hotel to the departure gate. Free internet at airport. Dragonair flies an Airbus 330 on the 2:40-long flight to Beijing and it is a good airline. Flight is half empty. The first week of May is holiday time in Asia; in Thailand it is Buddha’s Birthday; in China it is May Day; in Japan and Hong Kong it is Golden Week and in Korea it is not a holiday.
The jetway to the plane is a bit longer than usual; probably built for those new generation 800 seat planes. These jetways are like frontiers that give you a 2 minute break between countries. It is so fast these days to move around that it is almost surreal. These 2 hour flights for me are a good opportunity to “depart one country,” collect my thoughts and get ready to enter another. Also a great chance to have some excellent and thorough conversations; after all, interesting people tend to be the ones flying to and living in all these places.
BEIJING, CHINA
Beijing is totally enveloped in fog and I don’t know if it’s a pollution thing or just weird weather. Taxi is about 15 minutes to the hotel and about $11. There is an ATM at the airport. Taxi driver doesn’t understand the words “Great Wall Sheraton” but I pull over the taxi dispatcher before leaving the airport to make sure he does. I had to do this again in Seoul. This is a good tip: always make sure the driver knows where your destination is before leaving the curb. Always good to make sure you can pronounce the name of the hotel in the local language or carry around the card the hotel gives you with its name in the local script. Good expressway with signs in each lane telling you which is one for passing, going straight, whatever. Signs are bilingual. This is the only country in Asia so far where traffic drives on the right side of the road (in Thailand, Singapore, Korea and Japan, it’s left-side driving although some cars in Japan are built for right-side driving and sold that way). Everything seems rural just until you get into the city and the hotel (Great Wall Sheraton) is in one of the outer rings in an area designated for foreigner hotels and offices. Nearby is the financial district. This Sheraton is adequate but nothing great. Probably because the infrastructure is not that great. Dinner at a nearby German shopping mall in an Italian restaurant operated by the Kempinski hotel chain. There are a half dozen people there; Chinese are not big on Italian food and my hosts are humoring me but I am quite happy because in my 2 weeks in Asia I ate Asian food only twice as a snack and that was in Singapore and Seoul. (It’s not me being stubborn; I have a weak stomach.) Wu and Mary are hosting me and they are quite free to talk. We talked Taiwan, spyplane, etc. I was concerned earlier that month with all the tit-for-tat between the US and China that a visitor might not be welcomed but decided the visit was too important to postpone.
No big surprises and so far Beijing looks like Moscow sometime between 1992 and 1997. The infrastructure is a bit better and it’s not nearly as depressing. Prices for everything a foreigner buys are jacked up; hotel laundry, goods in state stores, film at sightseeing sites, etc. Internet connection is faster than the Hyatt in Hong Kong and the price is reasonable but there is filtering; no foreign news such as cnn.com or economist.com. I’m surprised that this goes on in hotels for foreigners especially since there are satellite channels on the televisions. Salary here is about $20,000 a year but it’s all for discretionary spending so people have some money to spend since rent and utilities are cheap and a car is not practical since it would use up all the money. Still a one-child per family place in the big cities. Atheism is popular here but there is a strong cultural ethic which inculcates good citizen values (ie: don’t do harm or you will later suffer harm). Chinese know plenty about the US and do get international news one way or the other; they feel they are good at filtering out the wheat from the chaff (that means discounting Hollywood versions of American reality as well) and that they know more about America than Americans know about China. I would have little difficulty agreeing. China may be communist but nobody cares – I arrived on May Day and there is nothing communist going on; it’s become a shopping holiday.
Wednesday. Today is a really nutty day of activity and, to make you appreciate it, I will keep track of the hours. 8:45 Depart to the Great Wall and arrive at 10. Saw Trans-Siberian train on the mountain pass. Train goes all the way to Moscow. At the Wall, the steps are very steep and it is higher than it appears so you just look down and keep climbing till you get there or get exhausted. Fortunately, it is a bit cool and dry so I am not hot and it is so crowded that you can walk up one step at a time and have to keep pausing. Normally, this would be awful but in this case it probably saved me and I am a good walker. Lots of people taking pictures; kids here enjoy posing for the camera; it is a good chance to express yourself freely. Spent an hour at the Wall and climbed up a few towers where you just look around at the view. Considering time and space, the stairs themselves are more impressive an engineering feat than the piece of the wall I am visiting. Drove back to the capitol and lunched at a Friendship Store where every bus tour goes because there is no place else to stop. Every driver wants to stop at these stores in the various cities because they get goodies such as gas coupons for dragging tourists like me there. Prices for goods here are 3x that of Hong Kong and of course it is the same Chinese goods. My driver takes a full hour for lunch (I brought over a tuna sandwich from the hotel which has a great kiosk in the lobby selling sandwiches, juice and pastries, and sat in the coffee lounge upstairs at the Friendship Store), and by 2pm we are in the center of town sitting in heavy traffic approaching Tiananmen Square which I am told is worse than usual because of the holiday traffic into the Square. The nearby neighborhood is very old and rickety with homes inside alleys that lack sewage and plumbing systems. These areas are rich in history but will soon be destroyed. We walk the Square which is quite huge. There is a public address system announcing the rules of the Square in English. There are so many rules that I didn’t hear all of them in the considerable amount of time it took to traverse the square and Chinese people around me were making fun of the announcements counting along with the Rule numbers every time the announcement paused. (#5…No spitting. #6…No picnicking…etc) I am told this square can fit 10 million and that in the demonstrations of a decade ago about 1 million were here. In the Square they play lots of patriotic music (“This is my country… my homeland…” I don’t speak Chinese but I have my guide translating everything.) Crossed over to the Tiananmen Gate where Mao’s picture hangs to go to the top of the building and get an overview of the square. The haze added a mystical view to it all but it is just now beginning to clear. Then on to the Forbidden City which is just behind the Gate. You walk through a tunnel and then see this huge vista with a building and courtyard. Then walk through it all to get to another tunnel and see another huge vista with a building and courtyard. There are interior buildings, the empress’s opera house and gardens. The layouts are very symmetrical and there are many symbolic items and markings in specific places that point to superstitions and hierarchies. There are certain areas where you walk through a building and there is an opening that is perfectly aligned to make the view outside look like a TV picture. It is like in the movies such as Empire of the Sun. It is one of the more impressive sites I have seen and today I feel like it was worth the flight to come all this way. As I’ve said, it is immensely crowded but after all China has a billion people and it seems appropriate that I should see its great sites with a couple hundred thousand of them during its national holiday and yes, the Chinese flags do come out this week (but I understand they are not omnipresent most of the year). Then to a nearby botanical garden in which you can climb up to some pagodas with big buddhas and gaze down at the Forbidden City and get a view of Beijing (which is just too big to get a view of) which is particularly a happy site since the sun has come out during the past hour or so. It is impressive how they got all these huge buddha statues in these really high places where one drives to or walks quite a bit. It’s not as if they dropped them with helicopters and cranes. In the garden, there is a groundskeeper with a bullhorn yelling excessively at anyone who stepped on the grass. I’d love to see this kind of harassment in the US. Shame does work here in Asia. It’s about 5:30 now and a 20 minute ride back to the hotel. I have climbed more stairs today than any other day I can remember but I am still dry which is a testament to the fact that I am here during the 2 weeks of perfect weather one is likely to get in a given year. The day with car, driver and guide came to about $150 with tips.
Beijing is a visit one should make while healthy enough to climb all these stairs; I am not waiting to retire at 65 to make such trips. Plenty of time to work and be married now that I’m 35 and have made the rounds of seeing the world.
After a quick dinner buffet in the hotel’s Italian restaurant (for some reason, they served tap water at the hotel and when I asked incredulously why they do it, the Dutch trainee said he’s been here for 6 months and not gotten sick yet from it – nevertheless, I didn’t drink it), I headed out at 6:45 to the Beijing Opera. This 70 minute performance begins at 7:30 and features acrobatics, kung fu and of course the dreaded opera. There are English translations on the side screens but the language is very stilted and the sounds exceedingly weird. There is no real story anyway. Dumb man plus subservient lady living hundreds of years ago. A high-pitched feminine voice sounds vowels at various frequencies that go up and down the scale very slowly…AAAAAA, EEEEEEEE. Much of it is not sung but verbalized punctuated by sound effects such as GNG and TING! Imagine the professor in My Fair Lady but much more weird along with Chinese musical instruments that sound more like sound effects than music although it is clear that all are quite talented. It is a cabaret-type thing with VIP seating and I am in the front row and there are refreshments on the table. It is a special show for foreigners; the other choice were the Acrobats but I’ve seen them abroad. The Japanese tourists don’t stop taking flash photographs during the performance at every little thing and it is like a fireworks display with all the flashes going off. Rather uncivilized but I guess the cast of performers is used to it. One hour of all this was plenty and I would have left if I didn’t know when it would end. See the China Daily News for evening entertainment listings. The difference between the Daily News and any of the Hong Kong papers is striking – one is like the old Pravda and the other is a real newspaper. When the concierge called for tickets, the opera said it was sold out. Then I had my travel service desk man call and he could get tickets for everything. In the Bangkok and Beijing hotels, I found the hotel concierges to be bellmen and the travel service people to be fixers. After the opera, a quick return to the Square to see it at night. All kinds of lights on the main streets and the boulevards near the Square are very wide. I don’t see any westerners in the Square and a good many of these tourists are Chinese from outside the capital (Beijingers know enough to go away this week sorta like Parisiens in July). There is a brand new subway which runs to the Square and offers limited service; I checked out the station. Returned to the hotel via the Central Business District and I now realize that my guide left out the more modern parts of Beijing which makes sense since he is in his 60’s. There are lots of new roads all over the city and beyond and lots of neat buildings with pretty lights and impressive overpasses for autos. I return about 10pm and as you can see it has been a full day.
On TV and radio there are channels dedicated to English language programs designed clearly for foreigners; also so in Hong Kong but in Hong Kong I am told that few are watching. In Hong Kong, the Chinese don’t give a whit about English.
Thursday morning a quick return to the Central Business District where I was impressed the night before. There is a fashion show going on in the main pedestrian shopping area; very wide streets with some new stores but people are wearing old clothes although they are all gawking around and taking pictures. Are all these people just peasants window shopping? Will the Chinese government survive the rising expectations of these people? Probably, because a guy now making $20,000 a year of discretionary income with more things to buy is a happier camper and it is clear that as far as consumerism is concerned, anything can be purchased at a fair price. The country is making great progress in upgrading its infrastructure and Beijing looked better than I expected (and I am sure that other areas such as Shanghai are even more modern and will someday even surpass Hong Kong, but not for awhile). As long as people continue to see things getting incrementally better, they are likely to continue to support the government. As long as you don’t look too carefully, things appear normal. Below the surface is a scared government trying to keep control with unemployment, currency pressures, factional struggles for control and other assorted problems looming. Let China be China; it is coming along on its own and will of necessity be a good citizen of the world. I don’t think they are crazy enough to try and take Taiwan by force or that the Taiwanese will declare independence and think the US will actually defend them; the Chinese will instead buy their way in and, as I said, China is changing. Its people and leaders clearly heading into a market economy but are trying to do it without having the country fall apart and a wealthy elite take all, as occurred in the former Soviet Union. This is an important reason I didn’t visit Taiwan; I think in the long term it will peacefully become part of China.
For instance, the airport is nice and efficient but it has no newsstand. There is one business center near a few far-flung departure gates where you can buy a few day-old newspapers. This is totally wacko for a major country today and won’t last long, not when Wu can read what he wants anyway via the Internet through one source or another and picks hotels based on which ones offer HBO.
Asiana has a full 747 running between Seoul and Beijing; two flights today. Evidently, relations between China and South Korea are better than I thought as so many tourists are traveling this holiday week. In what I consider twisted logic, I can’t get upgrades because Economy class is not full and they only give upgrades if Economy is full. Turns out Business is quite empty and I would have thought that upgrades depended on whether Business is full.
It is 1:15 flying time to Seoul. My vege lunch consists of many lentils. The fellow sitting next to me is thumbing worry beads, looking at a few family pictures very nervously and is either paranoid or a terrorist. He is not happy to be sitting with me. I am probably the only westerner on this flight and it is really funny when I walk to the back of the plane and see this sea of happy Asian faces barely visible over the top of the seats all oogling me as I walk down the aisle. In the taxis there are pictures of clearly Asian faces fastening seat belts correctly and the image of the person on the Japanese public telephone is very Asian looking. So it is not just a matter of Western stereotyping but also a reality in the way Asians see themselves that they depict themselves as we do in our stereotypes. At the opera my table also had a group of Canadian tourists who told me that people were constantly asking them to take pictures with their children. A US soldier in Japan said the same thing. Anyway, the plane full of Koreans is very well behaved and nobody gets up till the plane stopped. I saw my seatmate in the jetway and he is now wearing a white mask over his mouth; I ask him what kind of disease he is walking around with (after all, I just sat with him). He says he has a sore throat. I thought they only cover up like that in Japan.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
The new airport at Inchon is very nice on a man-made island but far away from Seoul. It seems like all of Asia is in a competition to build the most beautiful airport in the most impossible place. The ATM calls me a Foreigner and it is confusing to figure out how to get money. The taxi driver doesn’t understand the words “Hyatt Hotel” (until I get assistance) and it is a one hour ride for $30 to get there. There is a blonde guy in the hotel driveway with an earpiece who sticks out and he is waiting for me. Robert and I go to city center and observe the pedestrian market, sample a few foods such as rice cake and mint tea ice cream, see some pieces of history sprinkled around the city, take the subway a few stops and walk around some main streets and funky neighborhoods. In Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, the telephones work in the subways and in Korea and Japan they are now experimenting with advertisements that flash in the subway tunnels as you ride through them. The people don’t appear to be dressed too well but Robert says they look better than the Japanese and he might have been right. Went to a Korean tea house which had birds, decorations and interesting seating options and I had cinnamon-persimmon punch. This was an interesting concept that might be intriguing in cities such as New York. There are riot police in front of certain buildings just in case anyone has any ideas. Saw some nice buildings and quite a few western chains (though not enough of them for my taste). Here a building puts its company name followed by .com or .kr in order to show it is on the up and up. All over Asia billboard advertising features .com addresses but I don’t know how many people are actually online. We see the US Embassy, President’s residence, the Grand Palace. Dinner at the Westin Chosun Hotel which has a French restaurant facing a beautiful garden and a historical site. The word Chosun is the historical name of Korea. Korea looks OK but not quite first level. Infrastructure is B-grade unless you are in a showcase area. City is spread out with lots of lights. No real tourist information in most of these cities and it is particularly difficult in Korea. There is US armed forces TV and radio here; an American base is right in the middle of Seoul and the guys can be rowdy; their nightspots are the only area Robert feels nervous. The Hyatt is rather pricey at about $150 a night but the rooms are a bit better than Hong Kong.
Friday…Koreans are expressive (they smile or frown so you have an idea what they think) but still shy and suspicious of foreigners. Everything down to my airport exit tax card is labeled Foreigner. How about using the word Visitor instead? They definitely have an inferiority complex and resent being rated second-rate to Japan. Their brochures are cheerleading in nature, but the fact is that Korea is not on the level of Japan.
Traffic and rain delayed my morning start an hour so beware. I checked out early and hired a taxi to stay with us for the next few hours; it is about $10 an hour to do this so taxis are cheap. Going to the airport took 75 minutes and there was lots of traffic in the city. In the morning we saw the two main palaces, and they are sufficiently different that one should see both of them. You see buildings and gardens; the interiors of the buildings are empty. All looted by the Japanese it appears. 3 hours is plenty of time to do both. ATM’s in Seoul are hard to find and most don’t work with US cards; at the airport I had the same problem at departure and had to get an airline employee to take me to the bank to get money to pay the taxi driver. It was a mad rush and I arrived at the gate with 10 minutes to spare after spending a half hour running around trying to get money. Korea has a way to go before it is considered tourist friendly despite the fact that it is putting up some signs at historical places in the city and built a new airport (which is really far from the city but will be more convenient when the new speed train is operative in a few years). Beijing, which doesn’t stop telling you it is a candidate for the 2008 Olympics, is actually easier to be a tourist in if only because everything for the tourist is so structured.
On the plane, Japan Air System, I am again one of the only westerners. Because I have a vege meal requested, about 5 flight attendants walked up to me to confirm it and all knew my name. All kept offering me English things to read; this airline is very Japanese and its airline magazine is virtually all Japanese but it is a very good airline. 1:45 to Narita airport. Pretty countryside on the landing.
TOKYO, JAPAN
The express train takes almost an hour to Tokyo station but continues 30 minutes to Ikebukuro station which is a 3 minute walk to my hotel, the Metropolitan, which is a Crowne Plaza property at $79 a night for a decent room. [The Shinjuku district is 20 minutes past Tokyo station and the express train stops there too. Tell the cashier who sells you the ticket which stop you want to get off at so that you are seated in the correct car for that station since the train splits.] Free business center with good internet access open daily till 11pm. First free hotel internet of the trip. Bathroom toilet in the hotel is automatic but no better than toiletpaper. Laundry is reasonable, mainly due to favorable exchange rate. Here and in China I’m taller than the mirrors in my rooms. There is US Armed Forces radio in Tokyo 810AM. The hotel has only CNN and no other English channels. CNN International has few commercials, how do they make a profit? The hotel is presently 80% occupied by Japanese tourists.
At the airport, the public telephone has a little cartoon and the image is always bowing to me. They bow a lot here in Korea and Japan and of course I have no idea of the etiquette; the etiquette for the dumb foreigner is not to try and understand it. It is all very complex and the only thing you can manage to do by imitating it is to offend.
Brittany Spears is on the radio all over the world. Is she really that good?
As usual, finding food outside the hotel is a trip. My first dinner is at an Italian restaurant near the hotel which my Japanese amigo found. Then to tea at a Parisien style tea room. I walk to the nearby department stores; the elevator girls seem to be gone but there are many service people on the floor chirping at high frequencies (it is also strange to Japanese) and hawking food in the huge food courts. There are so many counters with desserts. Cake is put into a box with dry ice and then into a bag. There is a floor just for women’s kimonos and these can cost a lot of money. One of my friends said his wife’s engagement kimono cost $100,000 and she has never worn it since. I see very few people wearing them. MikiHouse designs pretty children’s clothes but has gone more casual during the past few years. I remember a more satin doll look last time I visited. Prices seem high for clothing but there are lots of items on sale and, when I get to Seattle’s Nordstroms, I realize that Japan was cheaper. Tip: Go shopping before traveling so you know if there’s value abroad. There are at least 3 big department stores within 5 minutes of my hotel and I could spend the entire week window shopping if I cared. Ate lunch at hotel; very pricey and small portions. Cake, juice and fish came to almost $30 (the fresh orange juice was $10); Japan is reasonable as long as you avoid certain nutty items such as that one. Walked to a nearby park and residential neighborhood – from inside the business district one would never think anyone lived nearby but in Tokyo you can just disappear into residential neighborhoods. The houses themselves seem to be “short. Most are apartments but strewn about are private homes with gardens for those lucky few that have owned the same property for many years. Very narrow streets but clean and orderly. Can drink tap water here. Some service cutbacks in this recession but by and large still very polite and service oriented, clean and apologetic (people always say Sorry to keep you waiting). And of course everyone says “Hi..Hi..Hi” constantly to affirm anything someone else says and to show they are paying attention. This week the system is strained as people are on holiday and there are lots of crowds on the streets and in the stores. Are they buying? I dunno but the stuff I saw on Saturday and came back to buy on Monday was all gone. Either they sold it or rotated the merchandise.
TV is funny to watch – they are caricatures of themselves and very hyper on the TV and radio. Fashion in stores is a mixture of pretty sorry or very expensive Italian probably not matched up well and Robert in Korea is probably right – the Japanese, especially the punkish, dress pretty horribly although the stuff they are attempting to match up is more expensive. They are buying all this stuff from Europe but the Europeans wear it better. 90% of Japanese get the same salary so this means that there is actually a good deal of discretionary income sitting around (a 30 year old is making the same as a 50 year old).
Dinner with Mitsuo. He lives very well solo with a 1,500 square foot apartment he owns in central Tokyo. Lost job in a family company when he divorced a celebrity wife. His apartment and many of his friends are Western style. Japanese moving toward Western style beds and eating with Western silverware when they eat Western foods. Now playing lots of golf but his golfing buddies are the head of Yahoo! Japan and Dell Japan; he is from an elite family and has nothing to worry about. Now he wants to form a golfing academy for golf fanatics who don’t want to go to Hawaii every time they want to attend a seminar on golf. Today you can buy golf courses on the cheap in Japan. Lots of golf on TV.
Among the new generation there is less discipline and therefore less participation in studies of such arts as aikido and judo where japanese schools emphasize discipline more so than the sport. American fast food is popular. Credit cards meant to be used abroad have alpha characters. Lots of recycling bins here. Brand names use alpha characters; it is considered prestigious to use them.
Sunday: Drove with Mitsuhiro 90 minutes to Hakone for lunch at the Palace Hotel. There are highway plazas with food courts but all Japanese style food. They really eat different than we do. You can see Mount Fuji, other mountains and a pretty lake. Excellent system of highways inside and outside Tokyo all above street level but very expensive and not many lanes. We spent about $50 that day just in tolls. Took a cable car up to the volcano; very steep but exotic ride. A small hike follows to the volcano; expect to smell lots of sulfur. They boil eggs inside the volcano and then sell these black eggs. Then drove back to Tokyo via the seaside route and a town known for hot springs. People walk the streets in their kimonos. Even rural areas are very neat like Germany with landscaping, good infrastructure and roads but everything is a bit narrow and miniaturized. Saw some people surfing on the beach. Crossed a big bridge to New Tokyo on a reclaimed island in Tokyo Bay. There is a shopping mall called Aqua Center and we had dinner in a pizzeria and dessert at the Hotel Nikko. In the shopping mall there are all these American style restaurants which were more Japanese than American. Just like in America there are these Japanese style restaurants that no Japanese would find familiar. Along the promenade one can see the big bridge which looks like the Verrazano Bridge in New York as well as a lifesize replica of the Statute of Liberty and the cityline of Tokyo on the other side of the bay. This is the grand view of the Manhattan skyline I can’t get in New York. It’s as if this copycatting was almost done in jest. It is sooo weird to have this view on my last night abroad, on the other side of the world. At least you’d expect that the Japanese statue of liberty would have some Japanese flavor to it such as the statue wearing a bandana around its head with some Japanese characters written on it! It is a 40 minute drive back to the hotel.
Monday…A quick run to the department stores: Tobu, Seibo and Mitsukoshi. I had to go to all 3 because I forgot which one I wanted to buy stuff from on Saturday. At the opening of the business day, everyone is standing in position to welcome you (hands folded, at attention with heads bowed) and says something to you in Japanese which means Welcome but probably means Please buy from my department or else they will send me and my department to the dungeon. Then a 25 minute ride on the Yamanote subway line to Tokyo station and the Tokyo Station Hotel right at the station entrance to see Masashi. On the subway train, there is live TV with info such as stock prices. Lunch at the hotel pasta bar, walk to the nearby Imperial Palace grounds and coffee atop the Palace Hotel, 10th floor, jacket & tie required. Good views of the city and palace grounds. It looks like Chicago from this vantage point with all these gardens smack in the middle of the city. Different parts of Tokyo have different moods but on the whole the city looks good; very good engineering, roads and infrastructure. Take away the Japanese characters and some of the main crowded avenues and you could convince me I was in Germany. The new prime minister has less than 50% chance of succeeding but people really want him to succeed; they are tired of political and economic failures and know their economy and government needs reform. They think some things are changing but the real crisis is national psychology; they rebuilt their country and now the new generation wants some kind of national cause to rally around so that they can think their crazy work ethic has some sort of rationale. People are not living and spending so there has to be some raison d’etre. Tokyo is just too damn crowded and already spread out for people to expect more room.
On the Narita Express train to and from the airport, all seats are reserved and the train runs pretty full. At Narita, take the elevator up to the departure gates as it is many flights on the escalator. It is a 50 minute ride from Tokyo station but it is an easy and convenient airport, all things considered. The ride to the airport features rice paddies as well as shopping centers and lots of residential buildings. The Airport has been improved with a food court and shopping mall with quick access to the gates. Currency exchange is still bureaucratic and you have to fill out forms, so I didn’t. The Economist here is $8 a copy so I didn’t buy it. United Airlines flight to Seattle cancelled, so my half full flight is now full. 8:05 flying to Seattle; leave 5pm Monday arrive 9am Monday.
SEATTLE
It’s a beautiful day to fly into Seattle with unusual sunshine today. Airport is very confusing and it is was hard to find the taxi stand; you have to go to the 3rd floor of the parking lot and there is no sign or dispatcher. It is a 15 minute $30 cabride to center city. The Crowne Plaza is a few blocks from city center but it’s a small city and any location in this district is OK. Decent gym and internet connections. My room is quite large with a picture perfect view of the city and Space Needle. Room 3052. Walked to the Pike Market and dinnered with Gil. Energy crisis in the US is becoming a big issue; hotel surcharges for energy. Gil tells me that US and Israel are getting along well because the only interest right now is to keep things quiet and make sure oil prices remain stable. The present energy crisis is due to domestic reasons and is not an OPEC-controllable situation. Local department stores appear to be very expensive. Seattle not a well-dressed place either – too many tourists and laid back people here; it seems the Japanese don’t look so bad after all. It’s only the Arabs and Europeans who look good.
Seattle has a monorail that runs from center city to the Space Needle; there you get a nice sunset view of the city and the mountains including Mount Rainier which is about 15,000 feet high and 100 miles away. Near the Needle are other sites such as the Music Experience and the Space Museum. For my jet lag, I just attempted to sleep late every day. The pillows at this hotel were the most comfortable, by the way.
A moment here to talk about pacing: I see nothing wrong with sleeping late, eating a good lunch and dinner and going with a car and driver to pack in the sites in 3-4 hours. You can do a lot in that time. I saw Seattle on Monday from 4pm to 9pm and the major sites of Beijing and the Wall in under 9 hours with a long lunch. The car, driver and guide are well worth it if you need someone to stay with a car in a high traffic area and remember every day on the road is costing you travel and lost income. Besides, you want all your crazy questions answered, right (and I’m known for asking a lot of them).
Lunch on Tuesday at the Top of the Hilton hotel. Good value and nice view. Walk to the Imax Theater to see film about Mount St. Helens volcano eruption of a decade ago. Dinner at the Sheraton coffee shop; it is highly rated and very good food and value.
Seattle is a sophisticated small laid-back city with pockets of funkiness, pretty views amid water, greenery and hills with some nice tourist spots.
SUMMING UP
Summing up places on this trip you can drink the tap water: Japan, Dubai, Bahrain, Singapore and Switzerland. Maybe Hong Kong too. Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong are hot and sticky; the Gulf is also hot but not so for half the year. None of these places have ideal climates; either cold or hot and sticky. Feel most safe in Switzerland, then Singapore and Japan. Japan, Singapore and Switzerland are the most clean. Switzerland and Singapore are most tourist-friendly. Singapore and Dubai are the most bilingual. Switzerland is the most familiar overall (and most everyone speaks English) and only 7 hours from New York, but it is cold in the winter. Hong Kong would be better if I would avoid Kowloon and just see the nice parts of the Hong Kong side. Tokyo is still odd and hard to eat in, and Singapore is also odd but easy for the tourist. After all, the Singaporeans are workaholic siege-mentality automatons and the Japanese and Koreans are also quite hyper and xenophobic. Although many of these places are in the news as free market economies, none compare to the USA for the idea that here any idiot can just make a phone call, set up a corporation for $50 and be in business without hassles or permissions. Japanese don’t wipe hands in bathrooms and the Chinese and Koreans don’t even wash their hands in the bathrooms. But they do cup their mouths when talking into cellphones in public places.
We make a big deal out of democracy and free markets; the reality is our markets are also highly regulated and most people are not interested in politics, both in the US and abroad. Most people are just working and want material goods. In many of these countries, people are happy if their lot is improving or if stability is preserved, regardless of what kind of political system is in place. I don’t see any tremendous interest in domestic politics, either in Syria or China, as examples. People are probably more unhappy in Japan which is wealthy but facing a mid-life crisis than in Syria which is dirt poor and preoccupied with daily bread.
Cost of this trip came to about $4,000 in air fare, $2,500 hotels, and another $3,000 in ground expenses. The largest item here was car, driver and guide on several occasions. Other items such as laundry, internet and cellphone together came to about $500 of the $3,000.
INTERNAL RATINGS AND COMMENTS
(First number is for “civilized”, second number is for place to go first time, third number if applicable is how quickly I’d like to return). These are sort of nutty ratings and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
2,5 Singapore Best place to be English expatriate; most beautifully manicured overall; traffic still a problem in the innercity. Eating is good and safe. Best airport but lots of walking. Tough at night to get what you want. Siege mentality of the people which seems excessive.
9,3 Thailand Nicest people but not terribly swift. Best value for the buck; not yet an alternative on the world stage until English improves. A real shithole outside the hotels. No reason to be there unless you have business or come to see the sites. Internet is not as good as the A-class of countries. Some decent new roads. Bangkok Airways a very good airline. Santiburi Dusit Resort in Koh Samui is exceptional.
4,6,3 Hong Kong Service is a bit impersonal compared to other Asian countries. Increasingly expensive for what you get. Shanghai not yet an alternative until English improves. Great airport transfer with the speed train. Many people no English. Lots of shanties but to avoid this stay away from Kowloon. Water may be safe to drink but I’m not sure.
8,1 Beijing Most impressive sites; most under-rated place I visited but still a way to go to reach the 21st century. Censored area but becoming more free and the government more irrelevant to people. Not cheap for tourists and Chinese are also paying market prices.
6,8 Seoul Still can’t drink tap water, infrastructure second rate, people no English. Very disorienting to tourist and ATMs that are tourist friendly are an absolute must; too much traffic; certain things such as taxis are still cheap. Right now worst airport transfer; some police in streets waiting for incidents to happen as opposed to traffic police elsewhere just being traffic police. Didn’t see the countryside.
3,2,2 Tokyo Excellent standards kept in Tokyo and outside. Tremendous engineering. Still working too hard but maintaining service standards. Looks like Germany but a bit narrower and shorter. New developments impressive. Still hardest to eat here. Good airport with least walking. Nutty culture and TV; not expensive as long as you avoid certain items. More to see and enjoy on a return trip than I expected.
1,4,1 Zurich Easiest place to get what you want and to communicate; most efficient overall. Most free politics. Reasonable prices as long as you stay out of taxis.
5,7.4 Dubai Excellent resort hotels and infrastructure; water is safe. Better than Asia because hotel staff speak English and come from English-speaking countries. Outside tourist areas not all is as well but it is a nice country. Good stopover point. Reasonable but not cheap. Good eating and communications.
7,9 Bahrain A step below the UAE but still a good stopover. A bit expensive for everything. Also excellent service.
This trip ends my sabbatical and I will be focusing on work for a bit. The next trip will be to Western Europe to see a few pretty sites I haven’t yet seen such as Florence, Prague, St. Moritz and Jersey. In time I’d like to see Seville, Luxor, Kyoto, Shanghai, Teheran and Sydney. But at least by now I’ve seen the major geopolitlcal focal points and I am satisfied. Time for a bunch of my friends abroad to come and visit me now. I have an extra bedroom for guests!
