assorted observations

I usually keep a pen and paper in my camera bag as we're walking around, so that I can note random things that I want to blog later. Most of the time those observations fall easily into our daily recaps, but I've been building up a backlog, so I'm going to just jot them down here...

Airport security varies a lot from place to place. I've accidentally gone through security with a full bottle of water (Bali) and I've been asked to shake my Kleen Kanteen metal water bottle to verify its emptiness (Singapore). The security team in Kuala Lumpur made me take out my extra camera lens so they could examine it (no one ever travels with multiple lenses, really?) while many other airports don't even make us separate out our laptops and toiletry bags. Gate-level security checks seem to be popular in Southeast Asia; I'm not sure if it's supposed to be more secure or what, but it is annoying as I'm used to filling up my water bottle after getting through departure terminal security. Practically no one makes us take off our shoes, and if you start to remove yours without prompting, you're basically broadcasting the fact that you're American.

Singapore and Malaysia's populations are very mixed ethnically, but all the groups appear to coexist peacefully, at least on the surface. I was amused by the advertisements for "Hari Raya mooncakes" in Malaysia; since the end of Ramadan coincided with the Autumn Moon Festival this year, some marketing geniuses decided to try and sell mooncakes (halal, of course) to Muslims as well. It seemed to be working quite well, actually.

In Malaysia, D and I would generally just start out by speaking to people in English. Most of the time, if the person was of Chinese descent, they would look at us, and respond in Chinese. Occasionally, they would look at us, and respond in Hokkien, which sounds a lot like heavily accented Taiwanese, so that worked pretty well too. It's interesting that they assume anyone who looked East Asian would speak Chinese. I wonder what it would be like as a Japanese or Korean person in Malaysia.

In Chiang Mai, there were many tuk-tuks and taxi drivers roaming the city streets. Most of the time they would try to take us to the Tiger Kingdom, but they would also ask if we wanted to see the "Long Neck Karen". Apparently there is a hilltribe in Burma called "Karen", and the women have artificially elongated necks. They achieve this by adding metal rings to their necks gradually over time, starting at the age of seven or eight. Some have fled the political turmoil in Burma and escaped to Thailand, where they have the dubious choice of living in refugee camps, or being paid to live in "tourism villages" created by Thai entrepreneurs. We chose not to go and gawk at these poor women, but I'm sure lots of tourists who haven't heard about the exploitative nature of the villages end up going. We also decided not to visit the Tiger Kingdom as it sounded similarly artificial; apparently you pay to have your photo taken with a certain age of tiger (most people choose the babies and the adults) and some reviews complained that the tigers looked drugged or otherwise unhappy. However, we did go to the Elephant Camp; despite a few reports which complained about the condition of the elephants, it sounded like the majority of the people who went thought that the elephants were happy, well-fed, and well-treated. After having seen them, my biased opinion is that the elephants seemed fine, but I'm not an animal behavior expert by any means. Anyway, we've discovered that trying to be educated and non-exploitative tourists requires a lot of research!

exceeds expectations

D and I are currently staying at the Peninsula Hotel in Bangkok. We've stayed at some nice hotels during this trip, but this place takes the cake, service-wise.

I went to the hotel gym this afternoon to work out. As I entered the gym, I was slightly disappointed because I didn't see bottled water, only coolers and cups. I shouldn't have worried; the bottles were lined up on each of the cardio machines, and as I chose a treadmill, a gym staffer tore the plastic wrap off of my bottle and handed it back to me, along with a gym towel.

When I finished running, as I stepped off of the machine, a new staffer handed me a chilled lemongrass scented towel, and asked me if I would like to use the sauna. I told him that I was going to stretch, and inquired if there was a disinfectant bottle. He looked horrified, and assured me that he would take care of the machine. After laying out a gym mat for me, he cleaned and disinfected the treadmill, put new covers on the attached headphones, and replaced the bottle of water.

I noticed that he watched for a couple seconds as I started my stretches, and I wondered why. When the next person stepped off of his treadmill, he also said he wanted to stretch, and also got a mat prepped for him. He just sat on it for a little bit, so the staffer quickly asked him if he would like any assistance. Upon hearing assent, the staffer (who I guess is also a trainer?) launched into a full set of assisted leg stretches. It was like watching NBA warmups or something.

After I was done stretching, I was (of course) handed another chilled towel, and asked if I would like a sauna or a shower readied for me (I said I'd shower in my own bathroom). The mat was cleaned and put away before I finished wiping my face and drinking my water.

I love this place.