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Asian Transportation Asians travel in many ways not unlike Americans; they too use cars, taxis, trains, and subways to get around. But, they also have their little differences. See below... Japan Japanese are either stereotyped as the weird people in the kimonos that live in the strange Japanese houses with the sliding doors, or the sophisticated businessmen that live in downtown Tokyo apartments and have the cool cellphones. Unfortunately, the majority of the people (at least in Misawa) are neither. They do get around, though. Japanese have pretty boring ways of transportation, such as cars (wow!), taxis (ooh!), and trains (cool!). One catch is that the prices in Japan are horrendously high. For example, the first two kilometers in a Japanese taxi cost 660¥, which is equivalent to about $5. It also costs about as much to fly domestic from Misawa to Tokyo (Misawa is at the North end of the island and Tokyo is in the middle) as it costs to fly international from Tokyo to Las Vegas, and sometimes the Vegas flight is cheaper! Other than this, though, Japan is pretty much a normal place when it comes to getting around. Thai Thai has to have the most exciting transportation in the world. The reason is because they have practically no rules for the fashion in which you drive or where you are seated in the vehicle. They have the ordinary taxis and trains and the lot, but they also have their own special version of the taxi: the Tuk-tuk! It makes for a very exciting ride in which the rule, "keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times" always comes first. Many also travel in the backs of pickup trucks, or on motorcycles which often have little snack shops attached to them so that you can cook while you drive. And the best part is that it is all dirt cheap! Oh, and did I mention that at the Thai airport, there was a special seating place for monks? Seriously, there were these yellow seats that had a big sign in front of them that said, "RESERVED FOR MONKS". Okaaaay... Singapore In Singapore, there is one unique form of transportation that is not commonly found in Thailand or Japan, and that is the double-decker bus. They are relatively common at bus stops, appearing almost as many times as the regular buses do. There is a great breeze up on the second floor, and besides the fact that the bus creaks so much you think it will fall apart, it is a great ride. Plus, you get a lot more respect from the other cars and buses when you are driving. One thing that has nothing to do with actual transportation but really caught my attention was that the train stops had extremely, um, original names given to them by the English. Such as 'Chinese Garden,' which was next to a Chinese garden. We would probably have thought the same about the Thai train stops too, if we had been able to understand their language in the first place. Plus, we never rode a Thai train. |
Take a look at Asian: Or, go back to Home |
This page was last
updated on: April 25,
2002
