Here's a collection of random things. I hope to add to this as obsevations arise.
----------------------------------------------
We often wondered why, when you get into a taxi or tuktuk in Thailand, even in the big international city of Bangkok, and you show the driver the map and point to where you want to go, why he blinks at you and then at the map for a good thirty seconds. Even if the words are written in Thai. This observation was later explained by our hotel owner in Chiang Mai. It seems Thais are not really map people. They just don't think that way. They go by landmarks. You also have to demand taxi drivers use their meter, otherwise they charge you three times the price.
-------
A word about the king of Thailand. (This is a delicate subject with Thais so you must tread carefully when discussing him in Thailand. Apparently one does not make fun. Having said that...) There are twenty-foot tall posters of him all around the country, often at intersections and often framed in giant elaborate gold frames. However, the effort has been made to make him look human and 'one of the people'. There are the standard pictures of him, posing in regalia with the queen, and then there are the ones of him in casual clothes, relaxing in a chair holding a camera, sailing, playing a trumpet or writing on a whiteboard. The most interesting one we saw was a copy made by a street vendor. It was a closeup profile of him with very obvious sweat dripping off his nose. Not only was this photograph not immediately thrown out, but it was commercially reproduced. And the sweat was painstakingly copied by the artist.
--------------------
Mannequins in Malaysia, and maybe Bali - I can't remember - are all white. Which is striking when covered in local garb like headscarves and saris. It amazes me - in Asia, the land of industry - that they don't make mannequins in their likeness.
------------
----------------------------------------------
We can't quite figure out how the Muslim coverings work. It is not uncommon to see a mother in full black Burqa with only her eyes showing going shopping with what seems like her daughter -who is wearing club-wear; a skin-tight mini skirt and heels.
------------
On the way back from Munduk, we saw a woman walking along the side of the road carrying a huge basket on her head, leaving her hands free to text on her cellphone.
---------------
Some t-shirts we saw in Bali (worn by unsuspecting locals):
- "One shush...lots of ___"
- "I'm loving the SMACK"
- "I'm convinced. I'm going to wear a seatbelt!"
-----------------
Tell me why it is that very few hotels have a shelf or a hook even in the bathroom for your toiletries or toiletry bag. Don't they have toiletries? I think we must be a great mystery to them.
------------
Every time we are out walking, locals watch Abbey with delight. She is asked, probably 7-8 times a day what her name is and how old she is. (Actually the other day, even someone high up on a wall fifty feet away called out and asked her name!) They then tell her she is beautiful and some reach out and touch her face, almost like they can't help themselves. It is actually very affectionate and heartwarming...people love children here-that is clear. All this, of course, completely affects our interaction with locals. A sea of tourists passes, and then they see Abbey, and women, men, even teenage boys - light up. But of course, it is not always what Abbey is in the mood for. Sometimes she answers herself. Sometimes she asks us to answer for her. Sometimes she turns away, too shy, or because she's been asked one too many times that day.
---------------
A plant we know at home as "Sensitive Plant" (it closes when you touch it) is called here, translated: "Woman Sighing"
-----------------
Abbey has upped her aversion to sand. Today she refused to go to the beach as it would make her feet sandy. Great.
-----------------
Mike just killed a two-inch long cockroach.
----------------
Today we saw an old woman balancing bricks on her head. It is quite common for women to balance large baskets on their heads...but loose bricks? She had 12 up there the last glimpse we had of her. And she was still going!
-----------------
We saw the most beautiful ladybug ever - it was iridescent sparkly green. We rescued it from certain drowning in the swimming pool.
-----------------
It's 11:04pm and I just rigged a way to hold the bathroom door closed so we don't get another visit from a bat in the night.
-----------------
Abbey can now swim the length of the pool all by herself without floaties!
-----------------
Look up inside and you'll invariably see a gecko frozen in place on the ceiling.
-----------------
There are tiny tiny ants everywhere. They could easily be crawling on you and you wouldn't notice.
-----------------
Abbey calls the frill on her swimsuit her 'shirls'...and her new favourite saying is "what the heck?"
------------------
Kids travel standing up on motorcycles in front of the adult driving.
-------------------
Roadside stalls sell clear bottles with yellow liquid - which turns out to be petrol.