Neil Oz. Had I been there, I would have been lining up for bacon and eggs too. Apart from the fact that I prefer that over 99% of "local dishes" anywhere, I have had various stomach upsets through eating local foods that I thought were safe and the last thing I want while on holiday is to have to stay near a toilet.

In most countries in the west, there are Indian, Thai, Chinese, Korean, etc restaurants which westerners eat at in preference to local foods.

Great thread! First off, A bit of travel ignorance by myself. First time to Europe, on a bus tour, back in 1984, when you changed currency from one country to the next. We left Italy and entered France, Avingon I think with no chance to exchange lira for francs. My elderly mom was hungry and I said we'd have to get some Italian money, but she was very insistent that she needed to eat NOW. When time to pay, the waiter (of course) could accept neither lira nor dollars. He then began singing quite loudly (no doubt making fun of us in Italian) as he kept Mom hostage while I went to a bank for some lira.

Another time in Jerusalem we were touring the Church of the Sepulchre and the guide was telling that the church was owned by seven differnt sects and one lady stated "The Catholics own part of it but so where is the Lutheran part?"

Went to China recently. When my friend heard I was going to the Great Wall, she asked if I was going to hike all of it!

Kathie,

While doing a search, I somehow came upon this thread. Actually, I didn't realize that it was 3 years old, which reminds me to read more carefully. I certainly have no intentions of stirring up trouble. Your comment has surprised me.

I'll return to posting and searching on current travels.

Les

I have also run into ignorant locals in Hong Kong....but they are always westerners *lol*.

On my first day of moving to HK to take up a job with a local newspaper I was invited on a junk cruise of the harbor with a group of locals (all Europeans - and there were about 10 couples in all).

The crew of the junk was naturally Chinese.

About 15 minutes into the 3 hour cruise (which was delightful I must say), one of the pompous women, who had a voice like a foghorn, remarked, as wthe non-European waiters passed around food and drink): "I must say that it is so bloody pleasant to be able to get away from all those dreadful Chinese....."

It was as if - even though she was on a vessel crewed by Chinese seamen and waiting staff - they were totally invisible to her. *lol*.

kaneda, I should have included myself in that - faced with the choice I'm definitely in the bacon-and-eggs camp, although I like to eat local for dinner (a big English breakfast means I can skip lunch).

Back on-topic - we just got back from Bali, where our stay in Ubud coincided with the 6-monthly Galungan festival (that's six Balinese 35-day months, BTW).

On the big day we wandered down the road to visit the old temple in the Sacred Monkey Forest, donned our sarongs and sat quietly to one side of the open-air enclosure as local families, dressed in their best, arrived with offerings and stayed for a period of prayers.

It was a peaceful and relaxing way to spend an hour - until two thirty-something French couples arrived, ostentatiously kitted out in the full Balinese fashion, and sat among the locals with their hands raised in prayer. I'd dismissed them as laughable but harmless Eurowankers until one of them, the dreadlocked one, got up, walked in front of everyone else (the equivalent of positioning yourself between congregation and altar in a Christian church) and started taking photos, to the evident dismay and annoyance of everyone else - evident to all but him, that is, as he kept prowling around until a couple of locals moved him on.

Les, I apologize if I misunderstood your intent. The Asia Board prides itself on its helpfulness and friendliness and thus, we have sometimes had to point out posters who assume a new name to stir up trouble.

I'd like to support Les on one of his points. In our limited experience we've found Americans to be generally polite and not especially insensitive. Even en masse I doubt that they're any worse than my own lot. I can't say the same for certain Europeans (delicacy prevents me from nominating a particular nationality).

Kathie,
I assume you are talking about me. I didn't check the date of the post. So sorry. /:) I was doing a search on something and didn't realize this was so old.

I absolutely hate threads like this that make fun of others. Personally, anyone who travels has my kudos. So, I called the posters on it. Big deal. If this is your idea of friendliness and helpfulness, well, you can have it.

As far as being a new poster who stirs up trouble. You are right. I am a new poster on the Asian board but an old one on the European board. My name is a variation of my old name (SloJan) b/c I forgot my password.

les, kathie is one of the friendliest, diplomatic, informed, and giving posters on this board. most of her opinions are neutral, maybe except for staying on the river in bangkok, but as a whole, alot of readers have benefited from her comments. me included.

perhaps her initial comments concerning your post of 7/14 may be viewed as unwarranted by you, but in the past we have had several of posters who have so much time on their hands that they "cruise" forums for the purpose of stirring the pot.

kathie apologized for misinterpreting your intent, so why can't you be big enough to accept her apology, and move on?(not meaning to move on from here, its a free country). :-)

Hi, not an Asian story but embarrassing nonetheless.

In 1994 I got the chance to work in California for a year (I'm Australian). My wife and I had never been to the States before, so naturally the first thing we did was organise a trip to Disneyland. We booked it all through a travel agent and were flying from Oakland to Anaheim.

When we collected our tickets at Oakland ariport we were horrfied to see we'd been booked to fly to Ontario! What had that crazy agent done? The only Ontario we'd ever heard of was in Canada.

After finally working out how to use the pay phones (a whole separate embarrassing story) we got onto the agent who couldn't help herself and just about cried with laughter down the phone to us when we started squawking to her that we didn't have the right clothes for Canada and we really wanted to go to Disneyland.

Kuranosake

I too have read Kathie's posts in many threads on this forum and she has provided excellent advice and timely information. The gist of her comment, I believe, really referred to "implement a search" before you ask a question or bring up a subject, not that someone is causing trouble.

Some tales are priceless, especially Pumbleshook's; however, not all incidences are funny. Once, at a tourist spot in Bangkok, my wife offered to take a picture of this couple, with their camera. They refused her offer and as she walked away one loudly called her a "stupid americano." However, immediately after that, a lovely Japanese lady came up and offered to take our picture. We remember her with fondness. The other couple? Maybe his boyfriend didn't want any pictures. Who knows?

I believe Jamles response was not being as critical as you thought, just surprised. So just chill out and take the chip off your shoulder and don't be so critical Enjoy the travel stories people have to tell. Maybe you'll learn something - I know I have.

Bonjour Slojan,

"Gosh, I hope none of you make any ignorant comments while on the road"

I'm pretty sure everybody on these boards have at some point made an ignorant comment during their travel, and that someone, somewhere, has made a whole discussion forum laugh about it. I know I have, and some of my Japanese and American friends will some time remind me and we'll have a good laugh about it.

However, I'm pretty sure I've never shown the kind of thoughtlessness, arrogance and rudeness shown by some tourists who obviously think that they deserve to be treated like royalty as soon as they leave the comfort of their home.

I've met some really nasty and embarrassing people during my travels, from the 4 Americans complaining they couldn't pay their Kyoto hotel bill in dollars despite "having won the war, after all", to the dozen Frenchmen who were doing judo throws in the middle of a temple (I'm French, had to tell them off), by way of the Swiss girl who started undressing in a overcrowded subway train because she was hot (and loudly observed that the way people stared at her showed that the Japanese were not tolerant), or the Swedish girl who sarted a feminist rant against the men who wouldn't give her a seat in a commuter train at peak hour, among a few examples ...

And I can tell you, telling it all here is a heck of a good therapy towards recovering from the sheer embarrassment you feel when you're in the middle of it all ...

First, to Kathie: Of course, I accept your apology. Thank you.

Second, to Kuranosuke: Your comment was the very reason I did not reply to Kathie's post. I did NOT want to keep anything negative going and thought it best to leave it alone. So let's do that.

I am most appreciative of the invaluable resource that the Fodor's board is. The generosity of people's time is quite special. I'll close my posting with wishes for safe and enjoyable travels to all.

Les

Hi jamles,
Well done on ignoring the snide, unwarranted and unwelcome comments flowing from your post. Most posters here (and in the European section) are, as expected, well-mannered and not given to ill-considered and petty posts that need follow-up apologies. Hopefully a lesson has been learned. Otherwise, this is an incredibly helpful, friendly and informative site. I myself have enjoyed reading your "three year old thread pulled up by a new poster with a provocative comment." I wouldn't have read it otherwise. Thanks.