Asian airlines continue to push innovative marketing and customer service strategies and practices that surprise and delight travelers, especially those from western countries, who sadly have become expectant of encountering to crabby flight attendants in their own lands. Late last year, we here at WoWasis reported that PC Air, flying out of Bangkok, was now […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Vietnam' Category
WoWasis book review: Mao Tse-Tung on Guerilla Warfare
Here at WoWasis, we’d guess that the collective United States military never got around to reading Mao Tse-Tung’s 73 page Yu Chi Chan, an expert treatise on the art of guerilla war, before it got hopelessly bogged down in the quagmire called Vietnam. Translated brilliantly by Brigadier General Samuel B. Griffith, USMC (Ret.) as Mao […]
Read the rest of this entry »French silicone breast implant scandal thought not to include SE Asia
The scandal involving French implant company Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP)’s use of substandard, industrial silicone for breast implants concerns potentially tens of thousands of women in at least half a dozen European countries. So far, it appears that none of these implants, which reportedly are prone to rupturing, were distributed in Southeast Asia. As reported […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Frances FitzGerald’s ‘Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam’
What would Frances FitzGerald say today? Her Pulitzer Prize/National Book Award/Bancroft Prize for History-winning book Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam (1972, ISBN 0-679-72394-3) was published in 1972. The U.S. still maintained a military presence there, and Nixon was still in power. Today’s visitors to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City are […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis mailbag: Tourist rip-offs in Vietnam, Greece, and Egypt
We’re at WoWasis are always happy to get mail. Here’s an email we received this week: Dear WoWasis, We surfed your website and the information you give about annoyances in Vietnam was very helpful to us. Just one thing: you mention that touts and rip offs in vietnam are as common as in Greece or […]
Read the rest of this entry »5 travel tips from WoWasis on avoiding getting robbed overseas
Compared to most Western countries, we here at WoWasis feel Asia is pretty safe. Most travelers can go just about anywhere, any time, and not have to be constantly looking over their shoulders. Nevertheless, travelers not practicing basic security measures are leaving themselves open to the occasional theft. So here are some things to keep […]
Read the rest of this entry »Leafsnap phone app allows you to identify trees instantaneously
Here at WoWasis, we’re often curious about what kind of tree we’re seeing in Asia, but don’t want to carry a tree guide (book or human) around with us. So now there’s a solution, that while focused on North American trees, will allow iPhone and iPad users to begin identifying Asian trees as well. It’s […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis goes shopping: 54 exquisitely crafted ethnic Vietnamese ceramic figures
Going to Vietnam and want to bring back something truly unique? And inexpensive, too? We were thrilled with the exquisitely-crafted tiny ceramic figurines detailing each of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups, crafted by the Minh Long 1 company. Each figure, which is 2 ½ inches tall by 1 inch wide, details a female representative of her […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis introduces Krasue, Thailand’s most feared ghost
Thailand is a country obsessed with ghosts, known as phii. Here at WoWasis, we’ve learned never to joke about them, because joking about them is considered to bring on bad luck to the speaker as well as all listeners. And never joke about a ghost before your girlfriend enters the shower, especially at night: everyone […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis Reports: Apartment Asian Massage Parlors (AAMP) in North America
Today, your WoWasiscorrespondents visit North America to report on Apartment Asian Massage Parlors. Also, read the WoWasis post on commonly used AAMP acronyms relating to practices at North American massage parlors). AAMPs, as they are commonly known, are most typically found in large apartment complexes, although a few “float” in hotels. Part of the service consists […]
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