Text 300, 122 rader
Skriven 2006-06-23 08:11:10 av Carol Shenkenberger (6:757/1)
    Kommentar till text 297 av Nancy Backus (1:323/120.0)
Ärende: Re: Seatime again
=========================
*** Quoting Nancy Backus from a message to Carol Shenkenberger ***

 NB> nice it would really be.

 CS> Well, if you have in mind visiting Asia, the first step is easy. 
 CS> Passport.  It  take a little while to get one but is good for 10 years
 CS> for an adult without  renewal.  Renewal is easy and requires little

NB> Have that already... and am already about halfway into my first renewa
NB> I needed it for my trips to Britain, for family visits and genealogy
NB> research reasons...  :)

Then the hardest part is done.  Some places also require a visa.  You can find
out on the web if so and they are normally pretty easy to get and good for a
trip within anything from 6 months to 2 years.  Most are 'single use' out here
so you have to get another for a second trip later.  India for example is like
that.

 CS> For cost factors, the situation is not as obvious or at least was not
 CS> to me at the start.  The plane tickets may make some places look way
 CS> cheaper, but once you check the hotel rates, you can find some
 CS> countries are a lot cheaper as a total than others.  A flight from

NB> That makes sense.  :)

Yup.  That flight difference was what allowed us to select the high end scale
hotel we first picked.  We just had to change that though as they notified us
it would not be 387$ a night but 550$ (child age 12, rise in rate).  We
swapped to the Del Mar for 112$ a night, filed as '3 adults' to avoid any
problems and all is well.  It's almost as nice and well located for our needs
for just as many nice things to do.  If you are curious, look up Okinawa Hotel
Mar and you will find it.

Sorry, kist checked.  www.hotelgrandmer.com  (shows other name elsewhere I
think).  Same place.  Nice....

 CS> nightlife (beer drinking  and party) is the main desire, you'd want
 CS> Thailand and the prices once there  are great for all sorts of shopping
 CS> things other than electronics.  Not a great  place for young kids
 CS> though.  Not terrible but not great.   

NB> Well, money IS an issue (unfortunately)... and I'm neither a shopper o
NB> into nightlife or even much of a tourist.  Most of my trips are either
NB> family or genealogy related, although I'm also interested in the
NB> culture/milieu of any particular area.  Asia wouldn't fit into either
NB> my usual rationale, just my curiosity about the region, based on frien
NB> over the years and my definite affinity for the food.  :)

Money is an issue for us too.  Stateside, I'd be the type to rent a camper and
travel that way (cheaper for 3 and easy travel).  My 'shopping' tends to be
for inexpensive things so I may have lots of luggage but it arrives empty and
leaves fairly full.


NB> <smile>  I'm pretty modest in my demands... and don't really need the
NB> westernization...  I tend to avoid shopping malls here at home... <G>
NB> think in some ways I'm not as "western" in my attitudes as most... I d
NB> remember getting raised eyebrows from customs coming home from Britain
NB> on one of my trips.  ["And you were away how long?"  "A fortnight." 
NB> "And THIS is ALL your luggage?" (Two small overnight carryons, a camer

That would not be me!  I go ashore with a backpack stuffed with another bag
that folds out and holds lots.  I almost always come back with lots of stuff.

NB> only what I could carry by myself easily.  :)  I pack lightly nowadays

I *pack* very light too.  I come back with other stuff.  I'm trying to convince
Don to wear his one casual jacket with a nice shirt and slacks or jeans, pack
one pair of jeans and one set of clothes for Charlotte and me and little else
as we will go shopping at the big exchange for new stuff.  We will do that
anyways so bringing too much would not be sensible.

NB> I'm more on the "respectable places for a really reasonable cost" end,
NB> when I'm not staying with friends or family, although I've paid more f
NB> a hotel when at a conference when necessary.  I'm not much of a shoppe
NB> of any sort, never really gotten into dickering, but I do like good fo
NB> and am not a picky eater, generally... :)  I prefer to go for local
NB> cuisine, but not slavishly...  And there are probably some* delicacies
NB> that I would gladly let pass without trying...  :)

Thats ok on the food!  Same here on the room but I upscale as much as
reasonable when at a liberty port because I dont get much liberty so spending
100$ for a night in a good 3-5 star place every 2-3 months is worth it for me.
 On food, I dont want to eat brains, eyeballs, or the sexial organs of any
critter but anything else is pretty much fair game.  I tend to be shy of
insect-edibles but little else bothers me.

In Korea, me and some buddies had a wonderful time, mostly traveling from meal
place to meal place with a little shopping and beer between.  The best one was
a hole in the wall, sit on the floor at a low table, point at a wall with
prices (no pictures, no english at all) and foods started rolling over to us. 
One of the best was a seaweed dish that i really want again!

NB> I'll keep that in mind.  :)  Is there an equivalent to a modest bed an
NB> breakfast in Asia?  Or are they non-existant, or worse, only catering
NB> the luxury crowd?

Actually i've heard of those but not looked for them nor noted them as common
in Asia.  Each place is unique though so there are things to look for
everyplace that wont match what you are used to, but will find facinating.

In Japan for example, the toilet will not be in the 'bath room' but in a toilet
room separate and often have a sink in the tank top to wash your hands at.  In
the 'bath room' there will be a deep tub and the shower part is outside in the
rest of the room.  You shower down (soap, wash hair, shave etc) outside in the
rest of the room which has a floor drain, then get in the tub all nice and
clean to relax.

 CS> Grin, folks wonder why I put up with the hours that I do.  I do it
 CS> because it's  extremely interesting to live this way, but now, I am
 CS> at the end point of all  this.  Time to come home soon.

NB> Under different life circumstances, I might have made a like choice,
NB> many years ago, though...  But I can tell that you've enjoyed your tim
NB> in... and I'm sure you'll be glad to have the memories when you do lea
NB> it behind.  :)

Yup!
                                       xxcarol

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