A few odd things

A few assorted observations:

• I could post to my blog in China, but was not allowed to view it.
• Its true what they say about ping pong in China. It was on the telly everywhere from sports bars to old black and white tvs watched by old biddies in coffee shops.
• The same is true in Malaysia. Just substitute Badminton.
• It doesn't go over well when you tell people in Asia that Hockey (field hockey) is a girl's game. "Where's your skirt?" Is met with an icey stare.- Ice Hockey is a game played by northern barbarians. Its viewed in a similar fashion to the way I look at rodeo or NASCAR
• The price of a bottle of water in minibars can range from $1-$8. The cost has something to do with the relative cheapness of the country. The cheaper the place, the more the water.
• Children here eat the strangest stuff. My daughter would gape in wonder.
• Many Chinese people can name yesterday's Man United starting line up
• Many Chinese can do the same for Liverpool.
• The two groups refuse to sit or talk together
• No one cares much about the war in Iraq here.
• No one cares about George Bush
• No one thinks about the UK....at all. This really annoys the Brit expats and I quite enjoy that.
• Canada is a far off place "with mountains" (HK and China excepted- they know all about immigration "points")
• People who make $10K a year are quite happy to pay $5 for a latte at Starbucks. They like the brand.
• With the exception of Tokyo, and Taipei, all the cities have huge gleaming new $200 million airports.
• All of these airports have huge signs saying "Voted Best airport 2005-6"
• All of these airports could knock the cover off anything in Europe or the US
• White people are unremarkable and go unremarked in Asia
• There don't seem to be any Black people here, tourists or otherwise
• Money, Money, Money!!!! The new Asian ideology wherever you go.
• Some countries subscribe to the above in a gentler fashion than others
• Australia really is a warm Canada in the 1950s
• Air con makes me feel slightly queesy
• The hotter it is, the more I have to shave and the less I smoke

T