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Asia (Non-Middle East)

Hong Kong Eliminates Something Else, But is it Enough?

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But most of us still have to test to visit?

In early February, Hong Kong and China agreed to eliminate arrival quotas and COVID-19 testing for those crossing directly between the two places.

Unless the visitor … had been overseas within the prior seven days. Overseas as in Japan, Egypt, Taiwan? Sure, everywhere else.

Now, as of 1 March, Hong Kong has eliminated mask mandates, save for hospitals and nursing homes. But again, if you’re flying in from anywhere that isn’t China, you need to test:

Testing still required to enter Hong Kong as of 2 March
Source: coronavirus.gov.hk, as of 2 March 2023

Not to mention, as I alluded to above, even if you were coming from China, if you had been overseas up to seven days before your Hong Kong arrival date, you would still need to do a COVID-19 test. Unfortunately, this also basically eliminates the transit-without-a-visa option of visiting some Chinese cities, and then continuing on to Hong Kong.

Does This Building in Hong Kong Still Exist
Does This Building on Hong Kong Island Still Exist? Taken in May 2018
The Methodist House, Hong Kong
The Methodist House, Hong Kong

You might be asking, why am I harping on this? Oh, it’s simple. I wax nostalgic for HK; after all, it was an old stomping ground. It’s obviously easy enough to get there now, but after a 2022 of taking test after test to go to a variety of countries — including the U.S. — 2023 says no thanks.

Besides, China is Hong Kong tourism’s golden goose.

Separate Checks: A Tale of Two Japans

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When I was last in Japan a couple of years ago, I went with family to try the Kani Douraku (かに道楽) restaurant chain. Kani Douraku (translated as “crab hobby”) is best known for having most dishes incorporating crab in some way. Also, when you walk in — at least to the one in Kyoto — there’s a stream with crabs puttering about.

Kani Douraku Crab Set Meal, Kyoto, Japan
Kani Douraku Crab Set Meal, Kyoto, Japan

Although I thoroughly enjoyed just about every dish I tried, I couldn’t help but notice something (in Japanese) stand out on the bill:

Kani Douraku Check, Kyoto, Japan
Kani Douraku Check, Kyoto, Japan

The first line written in blue ink reads あかり男性. The word あかり (akari) is harmless enough,  meaning “light” or “glow,” referring to the name of the set menu. The second, 男性 (dansei), however can be translated as “male,” or “man;” to breakdown the character for man, it represents power 力 lifting a rice paddy 田. For reference, the Japanese (and Chinese) character for woman is 女, and female 女性 (josei).

In Japan, I have seen set meals specifically aimed at women listed on menus, but in Kani Douraku’s case, this wasn’t made obvious on the menu. (link is a .pdf) Then again, when the waitress took our order, she asked which of the three of us (two males, one female) would be eating the akari course.

To confirm, it would have been the same price, but presumably less food per course for women.

In Chinese, there’s a phrase called 代考 (dàikǎo), literally “replace + test,” which means to take a test for someone else. It’s not necessarily unusual anywhere in the world, particularly with remote learning being a thing, but in China, it’s paydirt. Using that bizarre analogy, perhaps there’s a market for “substitute meal ordering?” Just make sure the waitstaff are changing shifts….

Understanding the Thai Calendar

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A lot of us travel to new places because we want to experience and learn from the unfamiliar. But even if you’ve been all over the world — including in your own backyard — you can still get tripped up by something. It could be a blizzard warning in Los Angeles. A transportation strike in Paris. An offline translator gone mad.

Or, maybe it’s something completely different, like discovering a Thai time machine.

Understanding the Thai Calendar
How to Understand the Thai Calendar

Wow, now there’s an expiration date I can get behind. Not only will it outlast me by a long shot, but also most living things, most dead things, and even (perhaps) one of those French transportation strikes. But not term limits in the United States. Hmm, you can’t win them all.

Jokes aside, let’s dissect the date of expiry on the Caffa Coffeemaker package. For visitors and expats, it’s good to note that this date format is found on official Thai documents, such as bills and contracts, on the news, at museums, as well as on some food packaging, and the odd train ticket.

Firstly, for my fellow U.S. people, much of the world puts the day before the month. In this case, it’s 29 of January. Easy.

Now, the fun part– the year.

Short answer? To calculate the “Western” aka Gregorian year, subtract 543 from the Thai year. For example, to comprehend the year in the above photo — 2566 – 543 = 2023. Darn, I thought that the lemon tea would’ve had a bit more staying power!

Slightly longer answer? {insert current year here} + 543 dates back to the time when Thai Buddhists consider Buddha to have attained enlightenment, or nirvana.

Fast-forward quite a lot to 1888 or 1889, when King Chulalangkorn (King Rama V) introduced the Gregorian calendar to Siam (the former name of Thailand), but with Buddhist elements. So, from a lunar calendar to solar calendar lite.

At the time, New Year’s Day was on 1 April, then 13 April. That all finally changed in 1941, when King Ananda Mahidol (King Rama VIII) directed his prime minister to change New Year’s Day to 1 January, aligning Thailand’s calendar with the Gregorian calendar.

However, as I alluded to before, there are still some lunar calendar elements in the modern Thai calendar. Wan phra, “monk day” in Thai, are roughly four days per month where Thai Buddhists would visit temples to provide food for monks. These days are based on the four principal quarter phases — new moon, 1st quarter, full moon, 3rd/last quarter — of the moon.

Thailand isn’t unique in supporting two calendars; Saudi Arabia, Japan, Ethiopia are three countries where I’ve seen two being used. Other Buddhist countries in Southeast Asia also have their own takes. Nevertheless, I wanted to provide for you a backgrounder on what those “crazy” years might mean.

You may now know how to understand Thai calendars, but let’s none of us forget to inspect the expiry dates no matter where in the world we are. (I’ve been burned by that, too.)

Throwback Thursday: Google Lens Time

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New reader or not, you might quickly learn that I rather enjoy (attempting to learn) foreign languages.

I can certainly make do with a few of them, and read enough of a trio of others to navigate public transit and menus, but I’m still appreciative of offline translators, for instance, the duo of Google Translate/Google Lens.

Those apps might not come in handy for handwritten notes and directions, but the fruits of their labors (bad pun intended) can make for riotous translations in supermarkets:

Ukrainian Milk Carton Google Lens Translation
Ukrainian Milk Carton Google Lens Translation, Kiev, September 2021

Give the Google Lens app a few seconds to find its way, and then you will generally be able to find out what a product is/what a product contains. Generally.

Then I thought, what if I tested the app out on something more arcane?

Not long ago, I visited one of my favorite museums, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Much like the French Egyptologist Jean-François Champollion, studying languages is one of my pastimes.

Unlike Champollion, however, I had a phone app that let me suppress imagination at the flip of a button:

Testing Out Google Lens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Testing Out Google Lens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

With Google Lens, I’ve taken this ancient Chinese stone stele, and reduced it to a screenshot (ironically taken with a Xiaomi phone). Even though I can read a number of the characters with the app, I can’t help but feel that this technology might sap the fun out of transporting viewers back to that period of time, all while we simultaneously wonder what was happening when it was being written.

This isn’t a vote against translation apps at all; they’ve been vastly useful in my travels, and will continue to be practical. Rather, it’s more of a retrospective– after that museum visit, I’m going to leave the translation work for the simple stuff, like figuring out from if something is milk or crème fraîche.

Singapore Puts the Kibosh on Testing for Unvaccinated Travelers

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Have you had recurring dreams of lopping up that chili crab sauce with fried mantou? O.K., that’s rather specific.

How about dreams where you were the only one doing laps in the Marina Bay Sands infinity pool, all while the sky was set to static sunset mode?

Well, for unvaccinated travelers who scorned pre-departure testing, there’s some good news awaiting you in the Southeast Asian city state.

Singapore Botanic Gardens Entrance
Singapore Botanic Gardens Entrance
As of 13 February, Singapore had made entry a lot easier for travelers unvaccinated against COVID-19.

In short, no more pre-departure testing!

Moreover, masks are no longer required on public transit.

But you still can’t eat on the MRT — the Singaporean rail network — so save that chili crab, teh tarik, or durian craving for the hawker centres.

Kadai Paneer, Tandoori Prata (Paratha), and Teh Tarik
Hawker Centre Kadai Paneer, Tandoori Prata (Paratha), and Teh Tarik, Singapore

Having visited Singapore many times however, I have a sarcastic take on this announcement. Did the country even want visitors before COVID-19? Think about it … how many times in an hour do you pass by a sign that says “NO _____?”

Typical Singaporean Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) Sign
Typical Singaporean Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) Sign

Souvenir shops poke fun of this phenomenon — one nickname for Singapore is “fine city” — but here’s another take. Whereas these types of signs in Singapore are ubiquitous, it’s not like these activities are necessarily legal in any other country. It’s just that the city-state has no shame in reminding us. Everywhere.

But I bet no one is going to miss these folks:

Safe Distancing Ambassadors, Singapore
Ironically Not “Safely Distanced” Safe Distancing Ambassadors at Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore

Planning a trip to Singapore?

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