Do you like to squat or to sit?
Beijing toilet revolution becomes a hot topic since Olympic is approaching.
Chinese toilet can be unpleasant I totally agreed. Personally, I had very bad toilet experience once in up north China. Those toilets are located along the motorways from south to north. I found no lights, no doors but with thousands of mosquito flying around the whole toilet. It was horrible indeed.
Western media always reports that Chinese loves squat toilet, but it’s not so true. Squat toilets are common in Mainland China, but not very common in Taiwan, and also not common at all in Hong Kong. Usually, you will find eight out of ten are squat toilets in bathrooms of Mainland, and two out of ten are squat toilets in bathrooms of Taiwan. You will find none of squat toilets in bathrooms of Hong Kong.
Beijing hotel toilets are usually Western style (sit-down toilets) but can be a little shabby – not unhygienic, just aged. Most Chinese toilets have puny plumbing which can’t cope with toilet paper. There’ll be a basket by the side of the toilet, throw paper in there. This is the same situation as those toilets in Taiwan. You can always see a basket by the side of the toilet in Taiwan as they also have the same plumbing problem. Once I threw paper inside the toilet which was in the bathroom of my apartment in Taipei, I almost created a “toilet flooding” tragedy in my apartment. It was scary. So if any of you would pay visit of toilets either in Taiwan or Mainland, China, please remember not to throw any paper inside their toilets otherwise you will be in big big trouble. If you did it in public toilets, certainly you will get blamed by the toilet cleaning people. 
Mainland public squat toilets often consist of little more than a hole in the ground. Privacy is almost unheard of, partitions usually consist of nothing more than a two foot wall if that, cubicle doors are an unheard of luxury. You may find several squat toilets in the same section of a bathroom without being separated by any wall at all. It means several people can use the toilets altogether by squatting next to eachother.
Hope you don’t find this post disturbing, but what I said here is totally true. However, all the public toilets of Beijing have been completed refurbished before Olympic starts. They are ready to meet the tourists and visitors of Beijing Olympic in August, but DON’T forget to bring your own toilet paper along. Toilet paper is not available at all.
Of course, I don’t like to squat!!! lol
2 commentsPolitical star
Political star is indeed essential for today political theater. I watched a programme lately on cable TV about political stars of the world. President of Taiwan, Ma Ying Jeou is one of them in Asia. You see him often on TV running around his living area with T-shirt and short every morning. His health status is needless to explain that shows he is fit enough physically to be a president. He is the idol of many Taiwanese and H.K. women especially women are over age of 30s. People nowaday not just look for a presidential candidate who is strong as a world class leader, able to protect his/her country, and also look for someone who is with powerful star image. This can increase the solid number of voters and supporters in any elections.
Obama is indeed the one with strong political star image in my personal opinion. I like him. Many do share same opinions as me from what I saw on other political blogs. Obama accepted the interview with Access Hollywood lately that indeed brings the big influence of idol image built in general public. It’s part of the process to consolidate the relationship with his supporters and to improve the relationship with his non-supporters until the final date of presidential election. Well, of course, this will be continued after the election if this is not just a so called propaganda. Family interview, it’s the way showing the down to earth personality of Obama. Having his wife talked about his wardrobe, his romantic sense, and how she keeps him dressing cool for daily basic that indeed an intelligent campaign. Family campaign is definitely important. It may affect the decision of independent voters in the final votes as well as the decision of those original Hillary supporters. We all need a leader being down to earth, understanding of the real needs of a country and its people. Be honest, who likes to hear news of a president with series of affairs and divorce such as President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. His news is entertaining but is not something to be discussed on the table when comes to political issues. Personally, I admit he is an attractive man in eyes of women, at least I do think so. My political idol is still Tony Blair though he is no longer on the political stage. He really shouldn’t support Bush. This is his worst decision ever. I support Taiwanese President, Ma Ying Jeou too. He does bring influences to their followers. His personal image is well built up in the hearts of all his supporters included me. He is definitely a star!
I am not surprise that how Hillary Clinton blamed on her husband for her own failure. Her husband indeed ruined part of her reputations according to his old affair story. By the way, it’s funny to watch a programme on CNN about the comparison of the way how Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama dress. They look totally different in many ways. It’s kind of unfair by comparison of their appearances in order to reflect their husbands’ images.
I feel sorry for us that we don’t have any political icon/star in Hong Kong, really none. Those candidates have no style. They are only working for their jobs with high paid, but got no influence on the people. I feel a bit too much that how our CEO always express how much we did for the latest Shichun earthquake in order to show how much we love our country. He sounds like showing his work performance rather than anything else. Anyway, election here doesn’t excite you at all, so I never vote. I know I am too honest, but is true. lol
The good about Saigon (Ho Chi Minh)
Overall the trip was good though I can’t say I am a big fan of Vietnamese food and things to do in Vietnam. I guess I like the atmosphere and feeling of Thailand the most in Asia compared with other Asian countries. Moreover, I much prefer spicy food. Vietnamese cuisine is rather mild for me. The French influence of Saigon is what I like the most. I did manage to have a French cuisine in one of the local well known French restaurants the last night, La Camargue. It took us more than an hour to get there as the first address we got was the old one. However, we found it at last after we had been told the restaurant moved to another area. The food was good though my appetite isn’t very good lately. Vietnamese people are overall very friendly. Once I stucked in the middle of road, and didn’t know how to cross to the opposite side, a very nice lady took me through. (there were too many motorbikes travelling around on the road) She was so kind, same as many others who instructed us how to find our directions though they can’t speak English. Ho Chi Minh was also kind to us as it was supposed to rain with thundering during the period we were there, but it ended up no heavy rain. It rained in short time only the first day we arrived. The local taxi is very cheap. Few minutes ride with taxi, it costs less than USD1.00 per trip. The longest ride we took with taxi was the trip from airport to our hotel that took 25 mins. It costs USD7.00. I found no McDonald in the city, but many KFC around though.
The rest of photos are on Flickr, enjoy!
The last Vietnamese local cuisine of the trip…
At La Camargue, one of the best French restaurans in Saigon….
The beef rice noodle soup again as well as the ice coffee at the boarding gate of airport…
The colony scene
The beautiful Cathedral Notre Dame of Saigon
The post office…
People Committee Hall…and classical music played by local musicians
Do you want to hear? I couldn’t record the full music, but part of it. The sound wasn’t very clear though. I crossed the road, and took a short video of what they were playing in the park. I sat in a very nice open cafe right opposite the park. I was enjoying my Vietnamese coffee and chilling….:).. (The video is workable, but just don’t know why the preview scene is gone. Anyway, enjoy!)
No commentsBen Thanh Market, street and gallery scene, and sound of the roads
Some people said it’s easy to spend a lot in Vietnam as they do have lots of interior decoration stuff and they are very cheap. However, I almost spent nothing in this trip for shopping. Ben Thanh market is the major shopping area of the city compared with many others I had been, but I only bought a buffalo bone made brooch, which costs VND45,000.00. It’s about USD2.90. Vietnamese coffee is great. Their coffee beans are very cheap. I bought 100gm of Bluemountain coffee and 200gm of Moka included a drip filter, only costs VND75,000.00. It’s about USD4.8. It’s so cheap though I don’t know if those Bluemountain coffee is real or not. Bluemountain is supposed to be very expensive but theirs are very cheap. Anyway, I just bought it for souvenir. If any of you don’t know what Vietnamese coffee is, and how to make them. You can go to this site for details. Most of their home decoration stuffs are either wood made or bamboo made. Most of them are not very colourful. Oh well, I am a colourful person, so their designs are not so attractive to me. It’s good as I didn’t spend anything for shopping. If I was in Thailand, I am sure I will spend fortune.
My buffalo bone made brooch and Bluemountain coffee, Moka with drip filter….
Saigon street scene….
Gallery scene…there are so many lovely galleries in Ho Chi Minh. It’s actually part of the influences caused by the French colony period.
By the Saigon River, and the night cafe scene in District one…
I found the most significant scene of Ho Chi Minh is the motorbikes on the roads, and their sound. Apart from taxi and travel buses, I really didn’t see many private cars on the roads. There are many motorbikes in Taiwan, but the noise of those in Ho Chi Minh is remarkable. Do you want to hear?
No commentsFanny Ice cream
It’s a great ice cream place. You can have ice cream with fresh fruits made for you right after ordered. I love the architecture. It’s the old French colony building.
Temple Club
A delightful and tasty Vietnamese cuisine restaurant in Ho Chi Minh city, where you can have very nice Vietnamese food. It’s a kind of classy restaurant in Ho Chi Minh, where Hollywood stars also visit. I like their interior decoration a lot. I feel Vietnamese cuisine is kind of mixing with Chinese food culture in many ways. It’s quite light in flavour generally. Air conditioning is not really common in Ho Chi Minh I found, as it is actually not existed in any kind of restaurants included this one. I am glad that they do have big windows by the table we sat as well as decorative fan otherwise I would feel like being in the desert.
Very nice floor tile….
Vietnamese rice wrapped roll and spring roll. I love all their herbs as the flavour is so refreshing.
Green pea sweet cake and squid with white pepper.
The Wine Bar of Sheraton
It’s located on the rooftop with airy Deck of Sheraton Saigon. This rooftop bar excels in offering breathtaking views of Ho Chi Minh City and the dazzling Saigon River. It was quite windy but the air was refreshing. Snails were around the plant grown area of the bar.
L’ Apothiquaire, Traditional French Day Spa
Spa of Vietnam is a big bargain. L’ Apothiquaire is the Artisan Spa that you can’t miss in Ho Chi Minh. I only spent USD75.00 for 4 hours Spa included the Spa cuisine. The package included facial treatment, full body and foot massage as well as the Spa cuisine. The pick up service was also included. It’s not the price that you can pay in Thailand and China for such luxury service. This is a popular place of lady tourists from Hong Kong, Japan and Europe.
They came to our hotel, and picked us up with an antique car.
We had dinner by the pool. Their cusine wasn’t something fancy but simple and refreshing. We had rice noodle and fried chicken in sweet and sour sauce with peanuts for garish. The dessert was tasty banana cake. It was so relaxing having a light dinner after the great Spa.
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