Asian Impressions - First Draft

Some Asian impressions from what I have experienced so far:

• Horns Blazing – A common sound out here as horns are used all the time to warn other road users your either: About to pass, want them to move, let them know your there, move animals out of the way, to show your annoyance at other people’s driving.
• Chop sticks – The only instruments you need to eat food out here, maybe a spoon sometimes when soup is involved.
• Spitting – If you don’t see people doing it you’ll certain hear them when they do, a common occurrence.
• Rich paddies – The main crop grown out here, in England you have green fields pass you by as you drive through the countryside, out here its rice paddies stretching for miles either side.
• Flood water – Maybe not a common sight, but this natural problem has followed me around Asia.
• Conical hats –Not just a tourist product, but the headwear of most workers who are out in the fields all day.
• People swatting – Not just over toilets but a general position most Asians adopt whether waiting out in the street or eating at home. Warning to Westerners – do not attempt to copy, we just aren’t built to hover our bums in the air.
• Mosquitos – Don’t think you wouldn’t get bitten because you will at some point; legs are especially tasty to these annoying creatures.
• Blocked pavements – In the west these are designed so you don’t have to walk in the street, out here there seen as an extension of your living room/shop/restaurant and just somewhere to park your bike – not to be walked on apparently!
• Potted roads – When it rains constantly for six months a year you expect the roads to suffer a little, well maybe quite a bit, expect your body to take a pounding when you less expect it. Smooth roads quickly become rally stages.
• Bikes – There everywhere, out here two wheels is the way to go.
• Stunning scenery – You’ll find some of the best driving roads out here. Just when you think you seen it all, the views around the next corner will once again blow you away.
• Tall narrow buildings – Best examples are in Vietnam where nearly every building has a narrow front but will be long and tall, this is due to the way land is sold.