Well, my friend may start a furniture importing business, which could mean piggybacking on his quantity (cheaper) shipping, so there's always hope.
While on this trip I read Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men". To all of you out there with any concern about what's happening in America, it's very important to go get this book. It's full of humor and easy to read and it REALLY fills you in on the creepiness of the Bush family and exactly why this is all about oil and money. It's getting too late to ignore it.
I was watching BBC news today. A group of 60 relatives of 9/11 victims who are AGAINST the war went to Afghanistan to meet with survivers on that side. They were all hugging and consoling eachother. I'm so against all the sentimentalism attached to 9/ll and "The Families" but this one made me teary. This is the point that needs to be made. One tragedy does not compensate for another. People are always ready to hate people they don't know. Travel a little, meet people on the other side of the planet, and you will NEVER approve of another bomb.
When I travel I not only learn about where I travel to, but, by stepping back, I learn a lot about home. We live in a bubble in America. Our culture and media IGNORE THE ENTIRE WORLD. Every other civilized country I've been to watches foreign television and films, it's not just for "artsy" people. There are European pop stars as huge as Britney and as important as Janis Joplin and we've never heard of them.
Remember the "Kids in The Hall"? When NBC picked up the show they demanded that all Canadian references be removed. The producers refused. What is wrong with a few foreign idioms? It's already an English speaking show! So you'd learn a new word once in while! Jeez!
All of this self centered behavior makes us ignorant and afraid. People who look and dress differently are scary. Or they look silly. Or they're crazy. Why don't we refer to Catholics as "fundementalists" or "Christian Extremists"?
Okay, I'm off my soapbox. Back into to my drag fantasyland. I have to see if they finished my dresses. XXOO
Fantastic! This is totally what I keep saying... but as a Brit in the US... I keep getting told by Americans to shut up or go home... and again ..here we are in the land of the free... In some Bizarre way Sept 11th (and no doubt other terrorist acts after) have and will sadly show that America is not the King of the World and every other country does not want to be like America... People only learn this fully when they travel...MOST Americans DON"T travel! And, if they do they visit Club Med or Carnival Cruise! Glad that you are reading Michael Moore ...Check out Bowling for Columbine.... Unbelivable truth about media, fear and the fact that more people kill each other with guns in America than any other country in the world!!!
mmmmm the land of the free, home of the brave...
mmmmm the land of the free, home of the brave...
Saw it. Everyone needs to. Really. Anyone reading this, if you haven't seen it, please go soon.
People seem to think international travel is expensive. It's only expensive if you follow packages and agents. Get a Rough Guide or a Lonely Planet and you'll see how cheap it can be. I gag when I see the prices people pay for resorts like club Med. You can come here for a month with what they charge for a few days.
Here's a trick for you: I met a woman on Koh Samui who had been living in a beach house for months. Before that she traveled through India etc. for about a year. She is French Canadian. Her job is to translate manuscripts. She works by email! She SAVES money by traveling and not having a rent to pay at home. Her beach house was $200 a month. Anyone who has a job like that should really consider taking advantage of the Internet.
I know a lot of people are broke and can't go anywhere, I've been there. But GW Bush? He's incredibly wealthy. What king of idiot with that amount of money lives to be his age and NEVER GOES ANYWHERE? And then, a man so unworldly becomes PRESIDENT! It's frightening.
Anyway, I'm home soon. I'll come to Chez Essada on Wednesday. I'll be going through financial culture shock. After a while, you just get used to prices here and when you go home everything seems so extremely expensive. Eight bucks for a drink! In Vietnam I took 3 people out for drinks at a club and it cost less than that! No more Mr. Sugar Daddy!
People seem to think international travel is expensive. It's only expensive if you follow packages and agents. Get a Rough Guide or a Lonely Planet and you'll see how cheap it can be. I gag when I see the prices people pay for resorts like club Med. You can come here for a month with what they charge for a few days.
Here's a trick for you: I met a woman on Koh Samui who had been living in a beach house for months. Before that she traveled through India etc. for about a year. She is French Canadian. Her job is to translate manuscripts. She works by email! She SAVES money by traveling and not having a rent to pay at home. Her beach house was $200 a month. Anyone who has a job like that should really consider taking advantage of the Internet.
I know a lot of people are broke and can't go anywhere, I've been there. But GW Bush? He's incredibly wealthy. What king of idiot with that amount of money lives to be his age and NEVER GOES ANYWHERE? And then, a man so unworldly becomes PRESIDENT! It's frightening.
Anyway, I'm home soon. I'll come to Chez Essada on Wednesday. I'll be going through financial culture shock. After a while, you just get used to prices here and when you go home everything seems so extremely expensive. Eight bucks for a drink! In Vietnam I took 3 people out for drinks at a club and it cost less than that! No more Mr. Sugar Daddy!
I know it's time to end this blabbering, but I just need to tell you about yesterday. Yesterday I really realized how wealthy we are in the US. See, I love slumming it in the street markets etc. and getting everything that's authenitc and cheap. But there's a real luxury circuit here that I'm pretty out of touch with. Like if you want to spend the $15-$20 for a meal that you might spend in NY at Yaffa Cafe, you can eat in some real swanky place equivilent to a $100 meal at home. I just don't bother because I need to SAVE on such a long trip, and the cheap stuff is so great anyway.
Story 1: I had time to kill while some headpieces were being finished, so I cabbed over to "Siam Discover Center" a fancy mall with a young clientelle. "Iron Ladies Part 2" was playing! I'd seen part 1 last year. It's about a gay/drag queen/tranny vollyball team. I was so excited I went right in. It didn't dawn on me right away that I was paying $11, a crazy amount of money for Thailand. Movies are generally about $2.25.
This film was in a special VIP theater! First, you enter into a luxurious bar where you are served a complimentary drink and some fresh baked cookies. Then, you go through some fancy doors into the theater and your jaw hits the floor! It must be based on the look of a 1st class section on a plane, but it's even more cushy. You get a GIANT overstuffed red electric recliner that can recline into a bed. Remember, people in Asia are smaller and this thing was giant to me! Next to you is a cocktail table with a ring to hold a champagne bottle. Included: pillow, blanket, complimentary socks. It must have taken up the space of 6 seats! It was all so surreal. They must have gotten this idea from Japan. It was nice, but if WE had this what would it cost? $60? Would anyone be decadent enough to pay for it? There's a much greater division between the haves and the have nots here, and I think the haves are even MORE showy, attitudy, and label concious that at home. They feel the need to strongly distance themselves from the poor who they see as low class.
Story 2: I've had a sore throat for a week, so I decided to go see a doctor. Well, there's this hospital that all the foreigners go for plastic surgery. It's the most expensive hospital in Bangkok. It's huge and it looks like a luxury hotel, gorgeous lobby, valet parking, etc. It even has a McDonalds and a Starbucks, which, as I've said before, are Western imports and seen as fancy here. Well, I didn't even have to sit down to wait. I escorted in and examined immediately. I was given 3 medications (antibiotic, painkiller, decongestant) in a fancy little giftbag. The price, at the expensive luxury hotel/hospital for an emergency room visit AND three meds: $20. Ladies and gentlemen, we come from a very rich country.
Story 1: I had time to kill while some headpieces were being finished, so I cabbed over to "Siam Discover Center" a fancy mall with a young clientelle. "Iron Ladies Part 2" was playing! I'd seen part 1 last year. It's about a gay/drag queen/tranny vollyball team. I was so excited I went right in. It didn't dawn on me right away that I was paying $11, a crazy amount of money for Thailand. Movies are generally about $2.25.
This film was in a special VIP theater! First, you enter into a luxurious bar where you are served a complimentary drink and some fresh baked cookies. Then, you go through some fancy doors into the theater and your jaw hits the floor! It must be based on the look of a 1st class section on a plane, but it's even more cushy. You get a GIANT overstuffed red electric recliner that can recline into a bed. Remember, people in Asia are smaller and this thing was giant to me! Next to you is a cocktail table with a ring to hold a champagne bottle. Included: pillow, blanket, complimentary socks. It must have taken up the space of 6 seats! It was all so surreal. They must have gotten this idea from Japan. It was nice, but if WE had this what would it cost? $60? Would anyone be decadent enough to pay for it? There's a much greater division between the haves and the have nots here, and I think the haves are even MORE showy, attitudy, and label concious that at home. They feel the need to strongly distance themselves from the poor who they see as low class.
Story 2: I've had a sore throat for a week, so I decided to go see a doctor. Well, there's this hospital that all the foreigners go for plastic surgery. It's the most expensive hospital in Bangkok. It's huge and it looks like a luxury hotel, gorgeous lobby, valet parking, etc. It even has a McDonalds and a Starbucks, which, as I've said before, are Western imports and seen as fancy here. Well, I didn't even have to sit down to wait. I escorted in and examined immediately. I was given 3 medications (antibiotic, painkiller, decongestant) in a fancy little giftbag. The price, at the expensive luxury hotel/hospital for an emergency room visit AND three meds: $20. Ladies and gentlemen, we come from a very rich country.
anna -Thats exactly what the director of my last film said to me!-when i said how much i disagreed with bush and war-(i guess he was a staunch republican)-unfortuently i decided that it was not worth discussing with him why i liked america and did not want to live in england -i guess he did not believe in feedom of speech!!
In high school I was physically forced out of my seat by other students when I refused to stand for the Pledge. I was told to leave if I didn't like it here... and I was BORN here! We allegedly have all these freedoms, but people rarely consider USING them, and when you try, you're punished for it.
I'm killing time in the Tokyo airport on the way home. Se y'all soon
I'm killing time in the Tokyo airport on the way home. Se y'all soon
Congrats to you, Miss Understood, on this board! I will "Miss" it *giggle*! Maybe it's because you always write about things we can relate to--things like food, colors, and rectal rehabilitation.
Maybe you should do a Miss Understood's New York all year round.
When do the new costumes debut?
Maybe you should do a Miss Understood's New York all year round.
When do the new costumes debut?
This is a shot of dinner in Saigon. Just below is that $9 a night beach house I told you about.
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Me and Vu at the "Tiffany" cabaret. Yes, folks, THAT'S a drag venue. Three shows a night, 7 days a week. When will NY ever catch up?
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And Indian! With you tan - you remind me of an Indian (Eastern) Med student!
How will you deal with the island "withdrawl" when you get home?
GiGi
How will you deal with the island "withdrawl" when you get home?
GiGi
Yeah, I think the funny outfit adds to that effect. It has that weird "I'm not from here" look. Americans only pair red and green at Xmas.
I feel refreshed. I love NY more after taking a break from it. I'm ready to roll on several projects, so I'm glad to be back. I just wish winter would go bye bye.
I feel refreshed. I love NY more after taking a break from it. I'm ready to roll on several projects, so I'm glad to be back. I just wish winter would go bye bye.