From Disneyland to Sidewalk Culture

We have returned from an amazing three weeks in Southeast Asia, and I will share just a few things which excited,amazed, or intrigued me. Singapore was like Disneyland, and was probably the cleanest city I have ever seen in my entire life. It is also very expensive, although there is subsidized housing for all of the Malaysians, and Vietnamese who come there to do the menial tasks. North, South, and Central Vietnam were interesting, and reminded me of my Peace Corps days. Bangkok was fabulous, with some of the greatest food. Was great to have dinner with a friend there--she chose the food, and we had a chance to eat something different from the Thai food at home. Hong Kong is Hong Kong--I could never live there--too many people, and far too many tall apartment buildings for me. I would have to be a ground floor girl. It is like New York City on steroids.

1. Food Courts are magnificent for trying the cuisine of a country--cheap too. We only saw locals there which is always a good sign of good, authentic food. If we had time to get our stomachs hardened, we would have eaten street food, especially in Thailand!

2. Starbucks can't be beat for free wi-fi, and now Mickey D's has joined them.

3. The world has decreased in size--it is amazing that if you go into a shopping mall in the large cities, you could be in any shopping mall anywhere in the world with the same stores.

4. I love the sidewalk culture of Vietnam, and Thailand. Anything you want can be found on the sidewalks. In Thailand, it is food, everywhere, and in Vietnam, it is anything. The houses there all have a shop on the bottom floor. The next floor houses the elderly, and the higher floors, the younger folks in the family. The houses are ten to twelve feet wide.

5. Halong Bay was a great surprise because of its natural beauty.

6. Took a four part class on Buddhism on the ship, and have a greater understanding of the connectedness of religions.

7. Folks still pee in the street (women, and men--Vietnam)--delightful--let me know that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

8. Learned that pagodas look like lotus flowers (who knew?)

9. Made me want to learn another language.

10. Loved using all kinds of transportation throughout the trip--tuk tuks, taxis, subways, sky trains, ferries, and cycles ( auto correct won't let me write that one correctly).

11. Technology is wonderful when we were able to FaceTime our grands from another part of the world.

12. Everyone, everywhere has a smartphone, an iPad, or some other device.

13. Vietnam has almost a motor bike per person.

14. Ho Chi Minh can only be viewed before 11, and goes to Russia from time to time to be re-furbished. The square and the tomb were quite something.

15. Since I put so much on FB during the trip, this is quite enough. Asia is a very interesting part of the world!!!

Know when our next trip will be--just the two of us for my birthday. The only problem is, we can't figure out where we will go, but it will be somewhere overseas, perhaps someplace exciting!