Highlights from my trip to the Motherland (Asia) before hitting the other Motherland (y'know, of mankind): Africa!

Viv and I took advantage of a fortunate coincidence to visit Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore.  She was moving to live in Singapore anyway and my mama is working a brief stint in Taipei = trip to Asia partially on Dupont's tab, HOLLA. 

Tokyo, Japan: My first time in Japan, excluding brief stopovers in Narita where the most culture I got was from the huge Crash Bandicoot character that you could control by stepping on jumbo PlayStation control buttons. 



This time, though, I really started to understand why so many people are obsessed with Japanese culture.  In this weird Asian-cute way it's very endearing: Hello Kitty, pastel plush stuffed objects (not just animals, but baby bottles, airplanes, you name it), giggling girls holding up peace signs, whatever.  I have found that the Japanese also have a peculiar fixation with the art of sticky pics - you know, when you go into a picture booth with a couple friends and take silly pictures.  They will have an entire establishment dedicated to sticky pics, with a room chock-full of these machines.  I went once with Tak, Juice and Taofik and there is a whole process during which you choose a background, theme, frame, etc., complete with goofy noises and a countdown to the snapshot.  Afterwards you have a set amount of time to play with the digital images...put dog piles on your friends' heads, drip snot down their faces - all the things that mature Princeton/Fordham grads do.

But perhaps the strangest thing about Tokyo was the toilets, as I discovered that the Japanese are quite serious about their bidet/toilet options.  Even in the simplest places there are buttons for bidet, shower, dry, seat warmer (w. several temperature settings), "small" and "big" flush and - the strangest thing of all - the "flushing sound" button.  Don't be confused: this is just what it says it is.  You push it and the toilet makes a flushing sound.  Complete with volume control.  Don't ask.  I already did, and apparently it's to cover up embarrassing bathroom sounds.



Other cool things about Tokyo:
1. Noodles!  Viv and I ate noodles exclusively for about three days before we decided to venture over to other forms of cuisine.  At one place (apparently this is common) we ordered our noodles from a vending machine which then conveyed our order to the chef who served them up less than three minutes later.  Amazing.  Sushi in Tokyo is also (duh) amazing.  Tak's mom ordered it for us once (in Tokyo you can get the stuff delivered by the trayful!) and even though according to Tak it was "middle-level sushi", it was still the best damn sushi I've ever had. 
2. Efficiency.  Not much to say here: it really is what people say it is. 
3. Clubbing.  Sympoh had an outing one weekend to Vanilla I believe it was.  In the "techno" room the crazed clubbers would chant in unison every couple minutes.  I think it went something like this: "blahblahblah, blahblahblah, blahblahblah, blahblahblah...aaaauuuuuhhhhhhhhh HEY HEY HEY HEY!"
4. Breaking in a subway station.  Tak does this often with his friends, despite the signs posted (on their account) specifically forbidding dancing and congregating in subway stations.  It was mad hot, but good to session with Sympoh again.

Taipei, Taiwan: This was the "chill" part of the trip for me.  Spent most of the time hanging out with my moms (mine and Eddie's).  Ate tremendous meals during this time, including the best Japanese teppenyaki I've ever had.  Eddie's parents took us to this place they frequent: dinner was so long and large that it required an "intermission" of salad greens.  We met up with Mark (Viv's boyfriend) and his roommate Derrick and had a grand ol' time hanging out.  I also got to see Taipei 101, the world's tallest building (by four out of the five international standards for such things) and, I think you'll agree, one of the coolest-looking buildings in the world.




Taipei also has some really funny signs posted around.  Here are some of my favorites (my own interpretations):




"Yield to people hitting small children while drinking champagne."



"Just say NO to Tazmanian devils."



"Condoms: Bringing young people together."



No explanation needed.  I mean...it says "Turd Baby".  I dunno.

Other Taiwan highlights include:
1. The best food I've had in ages.  I heart food in Taiwan.
2. Night market (window) shopping!
3. Sunset at Fisherman's Wharf
4. Taroko National Park: amazing views, scary drive.

Bangkok and Koh Samui, Thailand: The coolest thing about Thailand to me was the very specific culture of the Thai people.  For instance:
1. They love their king.  When Viv and I first arrived we saw tons of people wearing yellow shirts with a Thai symbol on the chest; naturally we thought they were a part of a tour group.  We saw yellow shirts for days, on people that did not seem to be particularly associated with each other.  Turns out, the king was born on a Tuesday and yellow is Tuesday's color...so all these people were wearing these shirts in reverence of their king.  Another interesting fact is that besides the obvious (you're not supposed to speak badly of the king, etc.) you aren't even supposed to put your purse on the ground or drop money, out of reverence for the king.  The reasoning is that your purse contains money, which has the king's face on it - and that doesn't belong on the ground. 
2. Hospitality.  Many, many Thais that you encounter as a tourist will try to rip you off.  They'll tell you that such and such place is closed for the day and offer to take you on a ride (literally and figuratively) to another tourist location.  They'll charge you way more than they'll charge a local at a restaurant, in a cab, etc.  But most - the vast majority - are incredibly friendly and hospitable.  They greet you when you walk into a room and bid you farewell when you leave.  They say hello with a slow, gentle bow, hands pressed together at chest-level.  There's just something very charming about it that you just have to experience to understand.
3. Respect.  In a world that often places such value on power - even in its brashest, showiest version, the Thai people maintain their own idea of respect.  In Thailand it won't get you anywhere to get angry, yell, or throw a temper tantrum; in fact, you'll be seen as a bit insane.  Thais respect quiet reason over any power play -- pretty amazing.  

Thailand highlights:
1. Koh Samui: maybe my favorite beach destination ever.  The "airport"is actually a cluster of huts.  This is baggage claim:



and the hut on the right is the departures terminal:



We also stayed at a fantastic hotel - the Buri Rasa.  A bit plush, but we were treating ourselves.  For example, the breakfast buffet had 5 different kinds of fresh juice as well as honey off of the honeycomb (it was encased in screens so you could scrape the honey right off of it.)  Our pool was an overflow pool that looked more like an expensive modern fountain.  And our bed had a transluscent screened canopy.  It was quite the romantic getaway gone to waste.

2. Temples, temples, and old ruined temples.

3.  We actually ran into Princeton people - living right across the hall from us!  Not too huge of a coincidence since we all were staying at a hotel owned by a Princeton kid's family.  But still, kinda cool.

Singapore, Singapore: This was my second time visiting this island-city-country.  We had a fun little time, met up with Mark's Singapore roommates, plus Chris Chou and Carl Zhang (Eddie's Spelman roommate).  We went clubbing and then did some Singapore celebrity karaoke (with Mark's actor/actress friends).  Later on Viv, Carl, and I went to the Singapore Night Safari (attached to the zoo) and oh yes, we got peed on by a bat.  Delightful.

So that's that for now.  I'm way backed up with my Xanga here, but stay tuned for Africa stories...guaranteed to please!

jam was hot.

now suffering post-partum depression.

time to dig up the thesis.