I'm starting to develop a new attitude toward sweat. Not the stinky BO kind, but the thank-god-for-modern-antiperspirants kind. It's hot. You're going to sweat. But then you cool off and it's all good. (Even though my face gets all beet red, such is life.) My sense is that this is a more common attitude here as well than in our pristinely air-conditioned US. For sure there's lots of air conditioning here as well, but it's somewhat inconsistent - in places extreme like back home, in other places not so high. Overall I think the lesson is - it's hot, you have the opportunity to cool off, sweat happens, just don't stink about it.
Speaking of stink, I've come across what seems like a statistically significantly higher instance of extreme cologne use (seems mostly on the men, I think). Not sure which came first - the desire for this on the part of consumers or the tremendous number of scent-items I noticed in drug stores. Either way, not a fan.
Something else amusing I discovered is that apparently Asians/locals don't tend to walk as much as Westerners (??) This idea was initially presented to me by a hotel clerk who was telling me how to get to the nearest supermarket ("well, we wouldn't walk, but I know our non-Asian guests may like to"). And then it also served to explain a previous encounter:
Speaking of stink, I've come across what seems like a statistically significantly higher instance of extreme cologne use (seems mostly on the men, I think). Not sure which came first - the desire for this on the part of consumers or the tremendous number of scent-items I noticed in drug stores. Either way, not a fan.
Something else amusing I discovered is that apparently Asians/locals don't tend to walk as much as Westerners (??) This idea was initially presented to me by a hotel clerk who was telling me how to get to the nearest supermarket ("well, we wouldn't walk, but I know our non-Asian guests may like to"). And then it also served to explain a previous encounter:
The other day, after I discovered the covered walkway from my hotel to work and walked there and back (around 20+ minutes each way), I stopped in at the Baskin Robbins (the Jamoca almond fudge is an old favorite, and i can no longer get it at home cos they closed all their stores there). Anyway, the lady at the counter asks where I'm coming from. I say the US, like one does. She says no, where are you coming from now, cos you're all sweaty. Ha! I told her I just walked to the towers and back, and she was all sorts of surprised/impressed... Anyway, that was funny.
That said, there are plenty of people (mostly tourists? no way of knowing) walking around.
That said, there are plenty of people (mostly tourists? no way of knowing) walking around.
On a different note, I've also been noticing that there's a strange dichotomy of efficiency here. On the one hand, things work quite well - getting to the 75th floor of the Petronas Tower is surprisingly fast, even though you have to cross over to a different elevator bank on 42 or 43.
However, the way our team is seated, some of the folks are in one tower, and others are in the other tower. So now getting to a meeting in another tower becomes a whole production - go down to the lobby, deposit visitor pass, walk to the other tower, give your ID at the desk (which rarely has any queue at all), get visitor pass for other tower, go up 1 or 2 sets of elevators... This could just be a fluke of our particular situation, but I've been noticing other interesting examples.
In the supermarket, for example, while there is a general set of check-out lanes, for certain prepared-food items you need to pay at the local counter. And if you're getting non-packaged items sold by weight (for example fruit, or something from the salad bar), you need to go to a separate counter to get your items weighed, and then proceed to the main check-out to pay. At the same time, even during peak hours, the lines don't seem to get terribly long so the whole process is relatively quick.
There's a high number of security guards stationed around, often around busy intersections where they use a whistle to warn pedestrians/cars, though they're not really directing traffic. There are also often multiple people behind any counter - definitely a much higher percentage of employees overall. Everyone is extremely nice and pleasant, and everyone down to the cashiers and Uber and taxi drivers has at least some English.
Something else that struck me is that while there's tremendous plastic waste - the tap water is apparently not drinkable (though I did not know this until yesterday) so at the hotel they leave 4 500-ml (c. 2 cup) bottles of water a day (I thought this was just a courtesy). However, paper napkins are extremely hard to come by - I have yet to see a napkin dispenser on any counter or table - in the food courts, etc. You sometimes even have to ask for napkins, or if you get some with your order it's often only one. In the food court, many/most of the meals come on actual plates and if I recall actual silverware (rather than disposables), and these are bused by workers making the rounds in the food court.
A big one that got me, though this appears to be unique to the huge Japanese book store, Kinokunia, is that ALL their books (in Japanese, English, and likely other languages as well) are shrink-wrapped! As in - completely encased in plastic, so that you cannot open or flip through the book. What on earth...?? This was a particular challenge as I was in the market for an adult coloring book - as in, want to look at the pictures before I buy. This is a massive store, with tons of titles in many languages, lots of interesting things to look at and peruse. Except - no perusing for you! Totally don't get it. Add it to the list of Japanese things that utterly confound me.
In the supermarket, for example, while there is a general set of check-out lanes, for certain prepared-food items you need to pay at the local counter. And if you're getting non-packaged items sold by weight (for example fruit, or something from the salad bar), you need to go to a separate counter to get your items weighed, and then proceed to the main check-out to pay. At the same time, even during peak hours, the lines don't seem to get terribly long so the whole process is relatively quick.
There's a high number of security guards stationed around, often around busy intersections where they use a whistle to warn pedestrians/cars, though they're not really directing traffic. There are also often multiple people behind any counter - definitely a much higher percentage of employees overall. Everyone is extremely nice and pleasant, and everyone down to the cashiers and Uber and taxi drivers has at least some English.
Something else that struck me is that while there's tremendous plastic waste - the tap water is apparently not drinkable (though I did not know this until yesterday) so at the hotel they leave 4 500-ml (c. 2 cup) bottles of water a day (I thought this was just a courtesy). However, paper napkins are extremely hard to come by - I have yet to see a napkin dispenser on any counter or table - in the food courts, etc. You sometimes even have to ask for napkins, or if you get some with your order it's often only one. In the food court, many/most of the meals come on actual plates and if I recall actual silverware (rather than disposables), and these are bused by workers making the rounds in the food court.
A big one that got me, though this appears to be unique to the huge Japanese book store, Kinokunia, is that ALL their books (in Japanese, English, and likely other languages as well) are shrink-wrapped! As in - completely encased in plastic, so that you cannot open or flip through the book. What on earth...?? This was a particular challenge as I was in the market for an adult coloring book - as in, want to look at the pictures before I buy. This is a massive store, with tons of titles in many languages, lots of interesting things to look at and peruse. Except - no perusing for you! Totally don't get it. Add it to the list of Japanese things that utterly confound me.
And finally, it's good to know some things are consistent all the world over. With the exception of a few rare special places (like the Lot 10 Hutong food court), food in Mall food courts is... crap! But that's a topic for the next post.
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