Flutterby™! : Wednesday afternoon in Hong Kong

Wednesday afternoon in Hong Kong

2002-12-04 05:52:22+00 by Dan Lyke 10 comments

It's lunch, I've just had three tofu dumpling like thingies, a smoked fish, some lightly sauteed greens, and a bit of broth. And damn they were yummy. Spiced just right.

After a busted generator kept us on the ground for 3 hours at SFO, got into Hong Kong at after 1:00AM local time, checked into the hotel at about 3:00AM, successfully reading signs out of the window of the bus to get off at the right place. The good bit? Everything is very clearly labeled.

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment made: 2002-12-04 08:08:50+00 by: Dan Lyke

Oh, and can I just say that the experience on the flight in, getting around, and dealing with tourists in the hotel, two things.

I am so lucky to be an American. I read, write, speak and understand the universal language, and...
I'm not British. Everyone knows that "Ugly American" is a stereotype, and therefore it's humorous. But damn those Brits know how to be assholes.

#Comment made: 2002-12-04 12:49:18+00 by: meuon

It's been printed out in color and mounted above the sink at the Virtual Building.

#Comment made: 2002-12-04 14:02:29+00 by: petronius

In 1989 I was visiting Tokyo and stayed at a small business hotel near the finance ministry (I almost said downtown, but all of Tokyo seems downtown to me). The room was small but comfortable, and the tub short but deep, as one might expect in a country addicted to long soaks. However, there was also a diagram on the toilet showing how to raise the seat and the lid when using. I didn't understand why it was needed until I saw a Japanese style toilet, a gimmick that looked like a urinal turned on its back on the floor and designed for squatting. I suppose somebody from the sticks might not know that the seat was useful while sitting.

#Comment made: 2002-12-04 17:34:02+00 by: other_todd

Petronius:

"In the last several decades, San Francisco experienced a large influx of Asian immigrants who apparently were confounded by the strange and alien toilet facilities they encountered. The janitors at SF International Airport complained about shoe prints on toilet seats and broken seats, as well as used toilet paper and water on the floor.

"It turned out that the refugees were simply practicing the polite toilet habits for squat toilets of their homelands. Once they learned about the proper use of the sit toilet, the immigrants quickly adjusted to human life.

"Western tourists, in turn, often lack knowledge about the proper use of Asian (squat) toilets. You can imagine how disgusted the locals of an Asian country might be at our misuse of their facilities."

- from the most excellent book GOING ABROAD: The Bathroom Survival Guide by Eva Newman.

#Comment made: 2002-12-04 19:36:23+00 by: petronius

My problem with the squat toilets was not the technique, which I read about in some pamphlets from the Japan Tourism Office, but rather the degree of flexibility needed to make them work. As a sedentary middle-aged American, I never really had the resilient joints needed to make the system work.

#Comment made: 2002-12-04 21:07:37+00 by: other_todd

I probably wouldn't be able to use one well either.

#Comment made: 2002-12-05 00:15:41+00 by: meuon [edit history]

Having grown up on 'squat' toilets.. I prefer them.. Thank about what you are doing from a hygeine perspective alone on a 'sit' toilet.

Think of it as Darwinism in action.. can't squat? Die.

You can even modify a sit toilet thusly:

#Comment made: 2002-12-05 20:03:32+00 by: canis

But damn those Brits know how to be assholes

We've had more time to practise...

Besides, we're arseholes, not assholes. Nekulturnyj amerikanec ;P

#Comment made: 2002-12-10 01:03:38+00 by: Dan Lyke

Since I've got too much material for the front page as it is, here are the instructions for the shower, which neglect to mention that you turn the handle clockwise for hot water.

Or maybe I'm just a little slow.

#Comment made: 2002-12-11 08:56:38+00 by: meuon

Funny pic.. now it's 'healthier' to squat: see Natures Platform.