Gadling Take FIVE: Week of September 20-26

by Jamie Rhein on

In the ever changing scene of world travel, this week Gadling pointed to some of the highlights of change.

  • If you want to see Angkor Wat before it goes totally upscale, you’d better hurry. It might be too late. Josh wrote about how high end development is going on all around the complex.
  • In the world of gadgets that make travel easier, Scott posted about the new T-Mobile G1 which should make several aspects of staying in touch while on the road easier and cheaper.
  • In Jerry’s Talking Travel conversation with Snake Charmer author Jamie James, part of the talk was about how James’s interest in China changed after he wrote about Shanghai in 2001. As he points out, one’s interest in a particular can changed based on exposure. For James, China has lost his attention.
  • Jeremy’s latest addition to his New York series is a lush piece on the changes in Staten Island’s landscape over the years–more specifically, the section of Staten Island where old boats and ships are put to rest.
  • When it comes to politics, Grant has his attention on the changing of the communist guard due to the absence of Kim Jong Il and Fidel Castro. He imagines them sitting on a beach somewhere chatting it up while drinking out of coconuts. Grant is a little weird that way.

What I hope isn’t changing is people’s ability to have a grand experience, even if it’s one they find in their own neighborhoods.

Going to China? Avoid the Milk

by Josh Lew on

If you are not familiar with the well-publicized tainted milk in China story, here’s a brief summary. Melamine, a chemical that causes kidney stones, was found in baby milk. Well over 1,000 babies have fallen ill and there have been two reported deaths. The melamine has been found in products manufactured by Sanlu company, but traces have also been found in some of the milk produced by other companies, including a Shanghai-based ice cream maker.

Milk dealers (apparently there is such a thing) have been arrested as part of an operation to get to the bottom of the tainting. Several dealers altered their product to make it seem more valuable before selling it to Sanlu. Now the scandal has taken another twist. It appears that the provincial government in Hebei (where most of the milk originated) was involved in a cover-up effort by Sanlu. Bribery and facilitating the paying off of parents whose children had been stricken by kidney stones are among the charges.

So things are not all roses in China after the success of the Olympics. Luckily, it seems that officials are now on top of this one (too late?). Health inspectors usually give execmptions to larger food producers, visiting them only a fraction of the times they visit smaller operatiions. According to the Dongguan Times, that practice is now on ice and everyone is being inspected. Looks like the worst is over, but, if you’re headed to China anytime soon, you might want to avoid the milk.

Getting on a train in China: Worse than sardines in a can

by Jamie Rhein on

I’ve been on crowded trains and buses–the type of experience where people have to adjust a shoulder, move a hip, perhaps reach up to hold onto a hand hold because there is actually no more room for another arm between all the bodies, but nothing like this. This footage was taken somewhere in China. I traveled on a train in China, but thankfully, it wasn’t like this.

Can you imagine? I wonder when the door opens at the first stop if everyone will explode back out again? How can the people in the middle of the crowd shoved inside the train cars ever hope to breathe fresh air? See the sun?

**Correction. Okay, okay, okay. As pointed out, this is not China, but Japan. See comment threads. The YouTube video was labeled China.

Crazy Asian mother: Stereotype from the kid’s perspective

by Jamie Rhein on

Aaron’s post this morning with his musings about positive stereotypes reminded me of one of my absolute FAVORITE YouTube videos, “Crazy Asian Mother.” It is a hoot.

Two high school age boys role play what happens when the mother looks over her son’s report card. Listen for the list of classes and the humorous jab at the parenting skills of white American parents. Very funny and illustrates other aspects of stereotyping.

When I first saw this video a year or so ago, I was transported back to my 8th grade English and social studies classroom in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Those students were funny, charming, and the work they turned in on a daily basis was astounding. Grading their papers was a joy. Honestly. They were the kids of high powered very bright parents, and they were under pressure to succeed, although their parents greatly valued the flexibility and creativity found in the American education system. It was the best of both worlds. These two guys would have fit right into my classroom.

Whenever my daughter feels that she’s pressured to succeed because I have ONE MORE TIME AND NOT FOR THE LAST TIME given her the litany of why she must do well in school in that annoying voice that only adults have, I think those Asian mothers who taught me a thing or two when I lived in Taiwan. As I explain to my daughter, I must have been a crazy Asian mother in a past life. Some things do rub off on a person when one travels.

By the way, I actually think there’s a crazy Asian mother in every parent. Even men. That’s why this video has almost 5,000,000 hits.