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My Travel Summary (2005-05-13)

Inspired by our recent trip to Taiwan, today I'm going to make a summary of all the places I have traveled so far; kind of a record-keeping for myself and may serve as a reference for your next trip too.  The following observation is based on my own opinion and experience, I hope others have better encounter than I did in cities that gave me a not-so-memorable experience.

 

Cities/states I have toured or lived:	Asia Bangkok, Beppu, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Hiroshima, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Koh Samui, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Macau, Major cities in Taiwan, Nara, Nha Trang, Osaka, Penang, Sendai, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo Europe Barcelona, Florence, London, Paris, Pisa, Rome, Vatican City, Venice United States of America Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington DC, Washington State Oceania Canberra, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Sydney
Best hotel ever stayed:	Central Samui Beach Resort, Koh Samui, Thailand
Worst hotel ever stayed:	One in Dongguan, China where rats ran freely in our room, the carpet and chairs littered with cigarette burns and the supposedly white bathtub was black.  The person who booked the hotel said it was the best one in the small town in which it was located.
Hotel with the best service and staff attitude:	To be updated
Most overrated and most definitely not worth the big expense hotel:	Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Hotel with the worst service and staff attitude:	Peace Hotel, Shanghai  (If you want to earn a slightly better service from the hotel staff, pretend you only speak English even when you have an Asian face).  The sullen staff behind the foreigh exchange counter in the hotel were particularly rude.  When I politely asked to have some foreign currency exchanged, one lady threw a form across the counter at us to fill out and said NOT ONE WORD during the five-minute transaction.  We had the distinct feeling that she hated us.  Other so-so hotel service we have ever experienced did not even come close to what that woman presented, it was an eye-opener.
City with the friendliest local people in general:	Tuscaloosa, Alabama
City with the rudest and unruly local people in general:	Shanghai
City with the best food:	Hong Kong
City with the worst food:	Shanghai (Oily, even dishes that are not supposed to be oily are saturated with oil, over-salty, not tasty)
Most memorable dishes:	Hainanese Chicken Rice at Chatterbox Cafe in Meritus Mandarin Hotel, Singapore wanton noodles at Ho Ho Restaurant, HK all Chinese BBQ food in Hong Kong eggballs and hand-pulled dragon beard candy in HK square pizza in a cafeteria in Vatican shallot and ginger mud crabs and roasted pigeon in Sydney Yumcha in Sydney Scampi and porcini in cream sauce in Venice rotisserie-roasted chicken in Barcelona
Forgettable dishes:	All hawker food in Shanghai (pan-fried dumplings were dripping oil everywhere, boiled corn had a rock-hard fat worm in the center, half of the roasted chestnut was inedible, boiled sticky rice in lotus leaf had gone bad in the center, deep-fried snack was swimming in oil) fried rice in Peace Hotel was floating in a film of oil on the plate a pasta dish in Venice that tasted like it was reheated in the microwave bad-tasting ramen in a Kichijoji () (Tokyo) noodle shop
City with the most sightseeing spots:	Rome
City best for relaxation:	Koh Samui, Thailand
The cleanest city:	Tokyo
The dirtiest city:	Shanghai
City/country I will think twice before revisiting:	Mainland China
City/country I will jump at any chance to revisit:	Hong Kong
Best airline:	Cathy Pacific (best meal) and Japan Airlines (best service)
Not-so-good airline:	KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (worst meal) and American Airlines, domestic lines, (worst service), Vietnam Airlines (worst airline).
City we almost made it but didn't:	48 hours before KL and I were to fly to Bali, terrorists attacked the city.  We had 24 hours to scramble for a new travel plan and make all necessary bookings.
Most scary occurrence:	While having afternoon tea in a sidewalk cafe in Rome, a fearful-looking British panhandler bugged us for money.  When we refused to give him any, he cussed obscenities and spat at us (but missed thank goodness).  Later at dinner time when we were walking on the street near the station, the same bum came walking towards us! We turned around abruptly and ended up hiding in a restaurant sitting far away from the door and hunched down in our seats to avoid being spotted by him.  After dinner we nearly ran back to our hotel which was close by.
Most famous person we saw:	The late Pope John Paul II

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