The Little Things

I thought it would be nice to write a blog about some of the little things that by themselves don’t warrant their own entry but none the less are important and impact our daily adventures. 

Showers

It’s easy to let showers fall into the daily grind of life and forget what they offer. Too often we look at showers as an activity that takes time from the day as a social benefit of others and not ourselves. Our travels has rekindled a lost appreciation for showering. After a long day in the heat, humidity and smog of the cities we visit, even the humblest of showers can be one of the most relaxing and lovely activities possible. Washing off the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on my face at the end of a long day of sightseeing is deeply humanizing. The next shower you take, take an extra second to appreciate it.

 Currency

When arriving in a country we have found it is best to try and adjust to the currency by not thinking about the conversion to US dollars (USD). So when you see a bowl of soup for 7,000 South Korean Won (KRW), you think “that’s a good price” and not “Well in USD that’s about.. $7, so that seems ok.” To get to this level you have to start out converting to USD though. In some places this is easy, South Korea for example is about 1 USD to 1,000 KRW, so drop three zeros from the price and you're good. In Hong Kong it is a little harder with a conversion of 1 USD to 7.7 Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), in these cases it is a little more effort to divide so what works well is to use anchors and do some rounding. For example 10 USD is equal to about 80 HKD, 20 USD is about 160 HKD and so on. Though you lose a little in the conversion doing it this way, it gives you a general idea.  And then you can start thinking, "Oh, 100 HKD for a bowl of soup?  That's way too expensive.  Where's that 40 HKD soup we had the other day?"  

So far Vietnam has been the hardest, not because of dividing but because there are way too many zeros. One USD is equal to about 20,000 Vietnamese Dong.  So a bowl of Pho will cost between 35,000 and 60,000 Dong and yesterday we had dinner for 220,000 Dong. It also doesn’t help that the 10,000 and 100,000 notes look alike and they all have similar designs with the same person.  Some guy named Ho Chi Minh or something. We're just not rich enough to be used to all those zeros.  (Though in Vietnam, Anthony's ATM receipt shows that he's a billionaire, so he has to be careful to not whip out his dong on the street).

We now feel sorry for all the non-Americans coming to the states and trying to figure out our money system since our greenbacks must look so similar to them.

Coffee

Perhaps this deserves its own post, I know there are a number of other coffee lovers out there reading this blog. I'll give a quick blow by blow by country.

Philipines – Here you will find mostly instant coffee served at restaurants, hotels, and mostly anywhere other than chain coffee places like “Starbucks” or “Seattle’s Best”. Civet coffee, known throughout the world as one of the best coffees, are created by the ingestion of the beans by the civet cat, defecated, collected, cleaned (hopefully), and roasted .  Though mostly credited as coming from Indonesia, the civet cat can also be found in Northern Luzon in the Philippines, so you can also get civet coffee here.  With the exception of civet (and the numerous American coffee chain restaurants), not the best place for coffee lovers. Though we didn't get to try civet coffee while in the Philippines, a special thanks to Rex and Me-Ann (Anthony's cousins) who have sent us some civet beans to appreciate when we return to the States. 

Japan – Coffee is not really part of the Japanese culture, and as such you neither find coffee houses nor is it common in restaurants.  Oddly, it can be found at almost every corner in the Japanese vending machine. For those of you who don’t know, vending machines are as much a part of the culture as… fish… almost. This vending machine coffee comes in any possible combination of the following; hot or cold, sugar or not, milk or not, and can or cup. The coffee is surprisingly good for coming out of a vending machine, and will help you start the day. It’s not great but it tastes better than a lot of other coffee I’ve had. So coffee lovers, feel free to come to Japan.

South Korea – South Korea seems to love their coffee. It is hard to give a general assessment because there is an endless array of independent coffee shops and the couple we tried were pretty good.  American chain coffee houses are everywhere here as well. What I can say is you should have no problems finding a coffee house.  

China – Don’t bother, drink tea.

Vietnam – So here is the gem and the reason I wanted to write about coffee and the reason I jump from bed in the morning in Vietnam. I don’t know what the national tourist slogan is for Vietnam, but it should be, “We have the best damn coffee in the world.” You will not find Starbucks or Coffee bean here, probably because any street vendor can make a cup of coffee that would shame the average cookie-cutter barrista (plus, Vietnam is still somewhat anti-American, so you won't find a lot of American chain restaurants). We have had coffee at a number of establishments including coffee houses, restaurants, and our hotels. You might think, as I did, that at an included buffet breakfast, sitting on a warming plate, a glass, diner-like coffee pot would produce coffee close to that of dirty bath water. How wrong I could be.  Even buffet coffee is good. In Vietnam, we have yet to have an even mediocre cup.  All have been better than the average cup of coffee in the states. Should you venture into a dedicated coffee house, of which there are many, for between 18,000 Dong (0.90 USD served black) and 25,000 Dong (1.25 USD served with condensed milk) you can enjoy a gift from the gods. I should clarify that this liquid crack is unlike the drip coffee we have in the states.  First off, the serving size is smaller (demitasse size) and I have no idea about the type of grounds they use or how fine they grind it. This apogee of life nectar is as dark as death and would need an almost equal part of condensed milk before it lightens up. The texture is thick like melted butter, and surprisingly I have never had any grounds in the bottom of my cup. There is nothing bitter or burnt about the flavor, it’s smooth, buttery, and chocolatey. Drinking this luxurious liquid is closer to that of dark chocolate liqueur than coffee. It is possible I exaggerated a little, but we have another week in Vietnam to see how this love story turns out.

Down Days

Packing and unpacking every three days gets tiring. Surfing online for sightseeing and running around all day to various activities gets tiring as well. As I write this I can hear your thoughts, “Whine whine… traveling around East Asia is sooo hard, try working all day like me.” Oh yeah?  Get back to work then...ok don’t… never mind that. I don’t want to whine or sound unappreciative of this great opportunity but at the same time that doesn’t mean that the trip doesn’t get tiring or frustrating. So given this, we have found that taking a day here and there to just sit around, blog, facebook, and watch “Game of Thrones” helps with the constant go go go of traveling.