Most exceptional international airports

 

A Reddit discussion of US based airports led me to write about this subject, related more to international airports instead.  Any airport flying to another country is an international airport, so many in the US are, so this really mostly relates to airports outside the US, although it does compare the list to American examples, a little.

The context for this is me living and traveling quite a bit in Asia over the last 15 years.  I lived all over the US prior to that, in Pennsylvania, Texas, Maryland, Colorado, and Hawaii, so I visited a lot of US airports earlier on, but 15 years is a long time for conditions and experiences to change.  I've flown in and out of Honolulu twice in the past year; that's the only American airport I have recent experience with.  In the mainland I last flew through JFK, maybe a half dozen years ago now.

My family didn't travel abroad during covid so I'm most familiar, in recent experience, with wherever I've traveled through since, in Tokyo, Osaka, and Seoul, in Haneda, Kanseda, and Incheon.  Prior to that we visited Hong Kong and Shenzhen (China) in 2019, and that Hong Kong airport was fine, but I didn't mention it in this list.  It's about airports that were modern and efficient, pleasant to travel through, but also about interesting features or appearance in them, whatever might make them unique.  It's not as much a ranking of airport services efficiency or completeness as it might sound, more about what stood out to me as interesting.

Cited Reddit post:

I just saw a post about worst airports (in the US, in that version), and although this kind of question comes up all the time I'd like to weigh in on it. I'm living in both Bangkok and Honolulu over the past year (a long story), and I'll add a little about other prior US airport experience, but I've been traveling in Asia a lot more over the past 15 years. My own best list:

Changi in Singapore: in online expat discussions this is always ranked first, for good reason. Everything works so well there that it's crazy, and they include extras beyond efficient services, clean and modern design, good food options, places to sleep, etc., extended out to including a butterfly garden in one terminal building. It feels comfortable there, like a positive place to spend time, or almost utopian in spots, a bit of overkill. The subway system might be the best in the world; it's easy to use, inexpensive, and fast to get anywhere.

the butterfly garden at Changi.  I've seen this, but I think they may have added a new terminal since I've been to Changi, which would've been something like 7 years ago.

this turns up labeled online as from Changi, but it's a mall space.  I think I've been there, awhile back, but that vegetation and the water access parts weren't there then, as I remember.

Haneda and Narita in Tokyo: I love Japanese flight experiences and airports; they're efficient, comfortable, and complete in terms of services offered. I flew through Kansai in Osaka once this year and it's not on that level, but it was fine, clean and expansive in terms of seating, with some food options. Little things one might nitpick, about a security process seeming inconvenient, but general processing and services seem exceptional in these two places, and the look and feel. 

 a play area in Narita, April of 2015

It's been awhile since I've been through Narita, which did include limited reclining chairs for sleeping then, and kids' play areas (shown in photos here), but Haneda includes so much seating space that it's easy to lay down and get solid sleep there, which to me changes a lot. Food options are just good in these places, not amazing, but it's enough. For Westerners there are usually donut and bakery places, Starbucks, sandwiches, or fast food, so it's not as if eating local Asian foods is required.

benches and charging station at Haneda in Tokyo (with many rows / areas as priority seating, and so much seating picking emptier sections is an option)

it's hard to capture how much space and seating there really is (Haneda again).  this is a long, linear style airport layout.

Incheon in Seoul: on par with the main Tokyo airports, with good, efficient services, a nice internal space, very clean, good food options, extensive seating, far more than probably makes sense, and even a place to shower (for free, when I last used that). I suppose a different kind of traveler would be evaluating airport hotel space or sleep-pod options but for me if there's a long layover as long as I can get a nice nap I'm fine. I ate some Taco Bell the last time I passed through there; that's a terrible idea, related to consideration for fellow travelers, but it can be nice having comforting Western food / fast food options.

Incheon airport; crazy amounts of seating, lots of charging stations

cultural role-play demo at Incheon; kind of overkill

a kid's play area, a common theme in Japanese airports too, along with good gift shopping

a robot offering information (Incheon again); an information booth works better, but those touches can give places a different feel

Suvarnibhumi in Bangkok: it's ok; it is what it is. It's a modern, spacious building but it's not a great place for food options, efficient internal walking travel (you need to walk a kilometer to pass through), extensive seating (forget about taking a nap anywhere but the floor), easy wifi-access, or broad access to electronics charging stations (all of which I barely mentioned related to the others; to me it goes without saying it's there). 

Internal counter registration, security checks, and immigration are all not very streamlined compared to the others I've mentioned. But the basics are all covered; you can use free wifi, if you figure out how to register for it (which might require internet access; it's funny when a Catch-22 comes up), you can eat, there are options to buy a phone SIM (data access), money exchange and so on, and there's an efficient train into the city, and inexpensive and easy to use taxis. If you know about it there's a good food court where $3 can buy you a decent light meal; good luck finding that anywhere else.

registration area and Thai minor deity statue in Suvarnibhumi

Hanoi airport: it's ok, updated and modernized. I'm mostly mentioning it here because really poor planning had us spend overnight there on a crazy layover once, so we got a feel for the place better. It's not set up for that to be comfortable; we ended up camping out in a nursing room, which was kind of ok. It's modern, with decent food options, and places to buy gifts, so it's fine.

Hanoi airport at night; kind of an odd feel when they're quiet and empty

US airports: Honolulu just isn't supposed to be on the same level, related to being a transit hub like those other places. You fly in and out, and it works for that. Changi makes it incredibly easy to use public transport to get to the rest of Singapore, as the Korean and Japanese airports would, but in Honolulu you can either take a public bus (which is fine, without much luggage) or a more expensive shuttle, which is also fine, if you don't mind spending $50, or whatever that was.

Honolulu's airport is dated in theme and style, but I don't care about that either way

Honolulu's airport makes you miss what you are leaving, in a nice, open-air space

garden space in the Honolulu airport; nice and relaxing

I've traveled most through NYC (JFK), LAX, DFW (Dallas), the Denver airport, and through Pittsburgh and DC, and all the modern versions of US airports are ok, they work. You really don't need an inviting, comfortable feel, lots of food options, places to sleep, shower facilities, internal garden spaces, and so on. Good transportation is nice, clean bathrooms, and efficient processing, and if the latter are limited, as in Bangkok, then you just add some planning time and give up the extra hour of your life to a few queues. 

I definitely wouldn't want to spend 8 hours or more in any US airport, if I could help it (or any, really), but they're not exactly set up for that, as international travel hub versions might be. In the US you show up early and have a couple of beers and that's it, and only hang around when something went wrong.

Russian airport (Moscow, St. Petersburg, or Murmansk), decorated for Christmas

that Russian airport; nice for us to see snow, for living in the tropics

family on the way to the airport, 2014

Kalani and I traveling then, 9 years ago

Keo and Eye in Suvarnibhumi airport in 2009

family picture traveling in Singapore, 2009

recent family photo for comparison

ITeaWorld Yunnan and Yingde black teas

 

A vendor recently contacted me about trying their teas for review, ITeaWorld (or itworld), which they sent to me at no cost.  This comes up as a tea blogger, just not so much recently.  

In an interesting twist they've apparently used this form as a marketing drive, with some mentioning on the r/tea Reddit tea sub that they're sick of seeing posts about their teas.  The consensus opinion there was that as long as reviewers mention that the tea was provided free for review that there's no ethical problem, and no issue with posts about that conflicting with r/tea rules.

My own "policy" is that I do mention the teas being sent for free, and will only review teas that I like.  The idea is that not liking a tea isn't much of a story to tell; there's plenty of mediocre quality tea out there.  I suppose if it was just a mismatch to my style preference, and something interesting came up, I might post it anyway.  I will sometimes offer vendors a chance to review a draft, if there seems to be an issue with some of the ideas, and will offer to not post a review that I see as positive but not entirely so.  Again my justification is that if I like a tea but it's not exceptional it's still not that much of a story.  

In this particular case it's a little different, because if half of these samples (they sent a good number of them) are quite good and the rest are mediocre or flawed there's a broader story to tell about their inconsistent sourcing approach.  Or actually they're also involved with production, which I'll probably write more about later, separately.  There aren't very many cases of large vendors, or those of any size, moving from resales onto production and processing; Moychay comes to mind, and that's about it.  Companies like Yunnan Sourcing and White2Tea commission a lot of teas for production, having things pressed, maybe even branching into having sheng wet-piled to become shu, but it's different moving down to the level of growing and processing tea.

I'm trying two black teas, even though in a sense oolongs will make or break results even more, which I see as more of a flagship, quality-dependent offering.  I love black tea though, and it can either be average, good, or exceptional, and I'm probably a decent judge of that for trying an awful lot over a long time.  One is from Yunnan (so Dian Hong, by definition, I guess, since that means Yunnan black), and the other from Yingde, which is less familiar.  I could look up a most typical type and style range from there but won't to keep this post more basic and readable.  The tea is what it is, with or without match to some other normal style range.  I'll have to compare the Yunnan version to other Dian Hong range, since that's really my favorite black tea type range.

I highly doubt that all this will never see the light of day because I don't like the teas, but that is possible.  To adjust for that I can mention trying versions I don't review in other posts; I don't offer vendors the chance to make any changes at all to content, unless I've included mistakes, which comes up once in a long while, but not often.

I'll brew these Gongfu style, using a higher proportion than for Western brewing.  Backed off my normal Gongfu proportion, in relation to individual samples weighing 3.5 grams, when I'd usually brew about twice that much, over a dozen times, in short infusions, most between 10 and 15 seconds, depending on results for the prior round.  For oolong that requires a good bit of careful adjustment, to get equivalent results, but black tea is pretty flexible about giving good results from different approaches, and at different intensity levels, so I'm not concerned about the variation.

I don't tend to review dry tea scent but based on that and appearance of the leaves these teas will be good.  Real evaluation requires brewing it, but you can get a sense.

Their back-story, according to them, which I may review in more detail later on:

Hopefully all that is on the up and up.  The part about relocating tea plants reminded me of a problem coming up in Laos--I think it was Laos, but it's been awhile since I've heard that story--when a Chinese company offered what could've seemed a large sum for a lot of live plants, growing in the wild, and took them back to China.  Fair enough, from one perspective; the people owning (or tending?) the land sold them.  But if they weren't aware of the true value and potential of the plants it could easily seem unfair, especially if the sales price was actually below a reasonable market value, which is how that story was presented.

Probably this is the other kind of backstory; tea has been around a long time in China, and plants would be around in different places.  Tea plants turn up essentially growing in the wild in lots of local SE Asian countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar, because the history of tea is long and diverse.

 

Review:

Yunnan black tea:  I went with the 15-20 second or so time, not so different than what they advised, just longer, and this is still a bit light.  Using a rinse would make their 10-15 second first infusion time make more sense, since that speeds up infusion process more than one would expect later on, but I don't want to drink or throw away a rinse infusion.  

That "porcelain teacup" is surely a gaiwan, which translates as lidded cup.  All of this works ok for brewing advice, following one of two opposing lines of thought about drinking either tea brewed relatively lightly (what this would result in) or on the more intense side, which would emphasize mouth-feel and aftertaste aspects.  In a sense it's easier to separate out finer flavor aspects brewing a tea light, unless you don't normally prepare tea that way (as I don't), then the lack of familiarity would offset that quite a bit.

The tea is nice.  Cacoa notes come across, even brewed on the light side.  Complexity is ok, even though intensity isn't just yet, and there's good sweetness and depth.  I could guess further about aspects but a better flavor-list description will be possible next round.

Yingde black:  I'm "getting" less from this; at the lower intensity the other already showed good positive character and some clear aspects but this is more neutral.  I'll need to go with a full 30 second infusion time to make sure these show what's present, even though drinking them lighter would work as well without trying to breakdown flavor inclusions.  I think brewing while maxing out proportion, using 7 to 9 grams, probably (not that I weigh that, although I could, my wife has a kitchen scale) probably has me drinking relatively strong-brewed tea, even though an average infusion time might be only 10 seconds.  

This might include a little more astringency structure, a faint hint of dryness, but I like the rich and soft feel of the other, typical of Yunnan Dian Hong versions.  It's definitely not astringent; nothing like broken leaf black teas.

Yunnan black, second infusion (brewed for closer to 30 seconds):  brewing this lighter would've also worked, but brewing this a little strong sheds light on the rest of the flavor list.  It causes warmer mineral tones to stand out a lot more too, to become a more intense part of the experience, so it might not be a match to my optimum experience.

Cacao is still nice in this, with warm and rich fruity tones along the lines of dried Chinese date, with a good bit of roasted yam.  That warm mineral tone works as a nice base, filling in a role astringency can often play instead.  This has a nice rich and full feel, but it's not astringent at all.  Sweetness level is good; right where it should be.  Aftertaste experience is nice, not really extended, but it does fill in the experience further.

All of this is a description of pretty good Dian Hong; it's just not unusual, or representative of unusually high quality level.  It's good, probably a well above average quality version, per standard experience, if someone doesn't have sourcing dialed in, or I suppose for someone accustomed to drinking exceptional versions it might just be normal.  

This is my favorite black tea style; I completely get it why a lot of tea enthusiasts value this type of tea, since I do.  Even higher quality versions might include a bit more novel flavor range, but it's really intensity and balance than can improve from here, with feel and aftertaste range potentially a little more positive (even richer and lasting longer).  I value that character (aspects) are a good match to a standard range in this version; I see that as positive.

Yingde black:  sweetness and complex flavor range doesn't match the Yunnan version, but the tea quality is obviously pretty good, at least in relation to it lacking flaws.  A different kind of inky mineral range fills in, while the other Yunnan example relates more to earthy inclined mineral, like old tree bark decomposing, with this a little closer to slate range.  I miss the sweetness level from the other, the overall complexity, and the style that is my own favorite (which wouldn't apply in the same way to everyone).  This is still pretty good tea, but I'd be happier to own 100 grams of the other, valuing that experience as something special, and I would probably just drink this as a food companion tea.

Make no mistake, this is miles beyond blended tin-version black tea quality level, although also just different in style.  To me the flavor range is limited though, the complexity, limiting the range of the experience.

lighting variations will throw off camera setting inputs, shifting apparent infusion strength

Yunnan black, third infusion (brewed a little faster but essentially the same, not so much over 20 seconds):  evolving a little instead of fading; a good sign.  For pushing the teas this hard for brewing time that wouldn't last; they'll fade soon enough.  Drinking six cups at this size (90 ml or so) it's already plenty of tea, and I won't describe a longer cycle of more infusions, this will do.  Roasted yam seems to be standing out a good bit more than cacao or dried Chinese date at this point; whether that's positive, negative, or neutral would depend on preference, but to me those early flavors might've been a slightly better mix.  Only the balance changed; the same range is present, just shifting in level.  It's good.

Yingde black:  also positive, but again this is suffering in comparison.  It lacks the same intensity, and the flavors present aren't as interesting.  I suppose this is at the cut-off for where I might not publish a post, if I was only reviewing this version, because there's just not as much of an interesting story to tell.  It's good tea, but not distinctive, complex, or intense, so it's not good in the same sense as the other.  It lacks flaws, the overall character is pleasant, and I think pushing it by adjusting brewing technique might draw a little more out of it, so it has potential.  

Using full boiling point water might help; I use a filtering and heating system to brew water, and end up brewing using water temps a decent amount below full boiling point, after losing a little more to keeping it in a thermos.  For whatever reason my thermos (now still in Honolulu) retains heat a little better than one that belongs to my son (which I'm using now), so this is probably brewing in the 90 C range, some way through the infusion cycle now, at the bottom of what they recommend.  Close to 100 might work better, for this tea version.

As an aside close to 100 might work better for lots of tea types; those tea temperature tables you see in different places apply much better to Western brewing (in my opinion), and relate to getting the best out of lower quality, slightly flawed tea versions than these are.  There is no astringency or other negative range to "brew around" in these; it's about stripping out the most flavor you can extract from them instead.  Brewing for longer, the other approach for maxing out intensity, will weight heavier flavors in the tasting experience, the mineral base, or astringency, when that's more of an input.

Conclusions:

I probably wouldn't have mentioned the Yingde tea in a post if I'd reviewed it separately, because there wasn't much story to tell.  That tea is ok, lacking flaws, with decent basic character, but I never did get around to a clear flavor aspects list.  It would've been simple enough to make one up, to use imagination and extend what I experienced just a little, but it just tasted like mild and reasonably balanced black tea, covering that typical mineral base, towards dark wood or spice main range, hinting a little towards dried fruit but without anything clearly defined emerging.  

I liked the Yunnan version better, both in relation to matching my preference for style better, and for it seeming like a better, more intense, distinctive, and balanced tea version.  To an extent how good it seemed ties to how good it was supposed to be, how it was presented, and which kind of pricing range it falls into.  Standard black tea selling for $10 per 100 grams can be nice, but something billed as an exceptional version selling for 50 cents a gram needs to be much better just to fall in the range of normal expectations.  

Per their listing the Dian Hong (Yunnan version; I think of them as that, the Chinese term) lists for $10 per 100 grams, so it's being sold as good tea selling at a good value.  It's pretty good for that.

I just looked up the first version Yunnan Sourcing sells listed as Dian Hong, here, probably the main US online vendor in terms of sales volume and general awareness, listing for $11.50 for 100 grams.  That's from Feng Qing, the same origin cited as this iteaworld version.  $10 probably is right at the bottom end pricing range of anything similar they sell (but don't take my word for that, look around some if you want).  The advantage of buying a tea from them is the ability to buy 3 or 4 similar versions, to pick the one you like most, then you can buy more later.  If you like a version from another vendor just as much that benefit essentially drops out, and you don't need to go through drinking the others that you don't like as well.  

This sort of "curator" source theme, where a vendor sells one of each kind, puts pressure on a vendor to source very good versions every time, where the market vendors (YS and others) can be hit and miss.  For either using some form of reviews or online comments would help people sort through best options.  It comes up in online discussion that Yunnan Sourcing deletes any negative comments from their site, so you have to be careful about how you evaluate online input.  Interpreting reviews can be tricky too; until a reviewer tries exactly the same tea you've already experienced yourself it's all but impossible to place their judgment, and even that input would only go so far, related to how they're going to interpret anything else.

The "vendor as producer" theme offsets this vendor's ability to curate what they sell on their end; they could distribute versions that don't turn out so well in other ways, but for being involved in production their sourcing would have to be more fixed.

I can't really evaluate any other claims or input about the tea versions, with only the high mountain origin and a source area listed, beyond a spiderweb style graphic describing oxidation level, sweetness level, and such.  Some people might think they can taste their way to confirming inputs, but I tend to not value or overthink claims that teas are from a certain elevation, a natural growth area, from plants of a certain age, or even organic.  Hopefully that last claim is accurate, when it comes up, but who knows.

The teas were good, especially the Yunnan version.  It will be easier to zero in more on quality issues and a match of claims of aspect character to experience with the oolongs, which I'll probably cover next.

the outdoor tasting space at home, which I've shown before

Foreigners living in Thailand "honeymoon period" and experience cycle

 

I'm sharing an answer I recently wrote for a Quora question here; it was this:

Why do so many foreigners living in Thailand wear rose colored glasses and have this attitude that Thailand and Thai people can do no wrong?

Kind of a biased framing for that general question content; foreigners new to Thailand don't seem like that to me.  But there is a related cycle of experience people tend to go through, often starting with seeing everything about Thai culture and Thailand very positively, gradually transitioning to a more balanced or even negative outlook over time, so it's close enough, just not really summarized as "Thai people can do no wrong."  The first time a tuk-tuk driver quotes you an unfairly high price for a trip that seems a bit off, and most people would experience this in the first few days.

That post answer is definitely long and detailed enough, without any more framing or clarification, so I'll just cite that as the post text following.

The first answer that comes to mind relates to a conventional cycle of perspective change over time, to a “honeymoon period” that people experience, foreigners new to living in Thailand. The idea is that over the first year or two everything is novel and positive, and any negative differences are minor in comparison. Then the standard idea is that people tend to see it all as more balanced later on, and often become bitter about differences and more negative side seeming to stand out all the more many years later. Of course that would relate to having specific negative experiences, like a divorce, or failed business.

Oddly I like Thailand and feel more at home than I ever did in those first few years, 15 years after moving here. I think that’s because I didn’t follow a more conventional path of extending vacation experience to life circumstances, moving to Thailand to live a beach life, or to pursue new relationships. I was already married to a Thai, and working in a new type of position was a real challenge, with having a baby added to that within the first year (14 months after the move, but about that). I moved to Thailand because of visa issues, or more so related to a scholarship clause of my wife’s requiring that we either leave the states or give back a lot of money that we really didn’t have.

Back to the convention about a cultural perspective learning curve, the idea is that people aren’t a good judge of local perspective difference early on, and mistake a Thai outward pleasantness and cheerfulness for genuine good will and happiness, then later they realize that these are just communication and demeanor norms. That seems partly true to me; it’s a bit like that. Thais do tend to have mixed feelings about foreigners, seeming very open and positive at first, then later it’s not difficult to notice limitations to that, and another side. Negative interactions would occur, eventually, or a limitation in the range of how you can interact with others.

Foreigners, especially white Western foreigners, tend to be seen as all one thing, or viewed through a lens of a narrow range of stereotypes (professional foreigner, backpacker, English teacher, sexpat, etc.). Most foreigners living in Thailand do fall into one of those categories, but being interacted with as a known and simple type isn’t always positive. Early on, and in the simplest possible forms, that type is generally positive; foreigners are automatically granted a relatively high social status, somewhat equivalent to being a relatively upper class Thai. Later it’s clear that this is only a superficial place-holder for not really knowing how to place foreigners, with people erring on the side of being more respectful.

In the past there was a certain degree of Thai cultural perspective “looking up to” Western culture, which has largely been replaced now by a feeling that Thais are “as good as” anyone else. A bit of uncertainty and insecurity might go along with that, which could easily lead to resentment; “why does that guy think he is any better?”

Then other factors enter in, like language limitations. It’s easy to explore a new environment based on very limited depth of interaction with others, but it prohibits later deeper exploration, and more meaningful exchange. Early on foreigners visiting or living in Thailand wouldn’t be clear at all about the complexities of normal Thai life and perspective, which could come across as positive, as a lack of negative factors, but then later not being “in on” others’ actual worldview could be regarded as very limiting. Some of the “rose colored glasses” limitation mentioned in the question could relate to foreigners just not understanding Thai culture, perspective, or life experience early on, and embracing the experience of positive and superficial aspects. It’s easy to love the beaches, the novelty of a completely different environment, or people seeming friendly, without being aware of limitations or more negative aspects for quite some time.

I don’t want to make it seem like there aren’t very substantial, positive, meaningful aspects of Thai culture that are unique to Thailand. There are, and my life experience has been very positive in general for a long time (although that woman on the right in that photo is certainly not smiling a majority of the time). And there are also subtle limitations and negative aspects, which take time to understand and relate to.

A friend visits from China

 

There would have to be more of a point, right, beyond describing a friend visiting from another country, having dinner and going to a play area or museum?  It's my daughter's friend, a 9 year old Chinese girl.  An interesting part has been discussing perspective on different countries and cultures related to both our kids, about how that girl's mother thinks that an antagonistic perspective between Chinese and Americans isn't valid, given that people in both places have much, much more in common than differences.  I completely agree.

My kids are Thai too; from two cultures, races, and nationalities.  It's interesting how the potential divide seemed to relate more to the US side of that.  China and Thailand are much closer; Thailand has a good relationship with most countries, beyond minor friction with some near neighbors over past differences.  Even related to that their immigration and working rights policies are quite open for people from Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, maybe just not quite as developed to support local or foreign origin indigenous people who may not have as clear documentation of being citizens of anywhere.

From there the insights can be a bit vague; all this relates to exactly what everyone would expect.  Americans are informed and conditioned to believe that Chinese national policies and actions, and to a lesser extent that of their citizens, can be unfair to others, and I would guess that's probably roughly as true in China.  Oddly I don't think it's really more of a universal convention in China, even though the government there has much better control of media and education content and narrative.  Why would I think that?  I have Chinese friends, Amber isn't the only one, and they pass on what they think.  And I've been to China 3 times, or a half dozen, if you count trips to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, but I see the last as a different place, or really even the other two.

Amber hopes that the kids can stay in touch, which hadn't worked out over the covid period, but we would meet them when her daughter attended a summer program at a British school that my daughter also attended then.  Kalani moved on to go to a Thai school after, and just completed the third grade in Honolulu, Hawaii, adapting well to both of those changes.  I also hope that my kids can continue to feel a connection with that friend, and other Japanese friends they have known and still do.  Bangkok is really their home, based on how they feel about connections to different places, so I'm not worried about that dropping out, even if we can manage to live full-time in Honolulu after the school year that starts very soon.  Summer break is almost over!

It helps that the girl visiting is very special, which I feel to be true of many of my daughter's friends, or even most of them.  She is cheerful, bright, energetic, empathetic, and multi-talented.  Her English is a little limited but she speaks very clearly and appropriately when she does use it, probably as good or better than my Thai (just more limited), and I've been in Thailand for 15 years.  She has a strong personality; she's stubborn, when attached to an idea, and speaks her mind regardless of what is on it.  She would make a good American.  And she's amazingly well conditioned for extended play; we just visited a play-space and slide area and barely stopped running for 2 1/2 hours, which Keoni, my 14 year old son, said he's getting a bit old for, and is not conditioned to keep up.

All this makes me consider what I can pass on about Chinese culture or perspective, beyond it just being another normal worldview, supporting a range of very conventional life experiences.  I'm really into tea myself, but that's an exception in "the West," and not common related to the emphasis I put on it even back in China.  If you visit places like Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, or Taipei it almost feels like you are in any Western city; the general look and range of activities and options isn't so different.  

People are Asian, of course, and public transportation is unusually developed, language use and foods vary, and so on, but there's not a lot of other outward difference.  If you talk to people, as I have, tea contacts, my kids' school friends, and work contacts, they don't seem so different than Thais or Americans.  I suppose that's not true in the same sense of Japanese people; they really are a good bit more reserved.  Get past that and they're similar too; one of the local friends I've felt the closest to in Bangkok was Japanese, and a Japanese family in Honolulu, again including a friend of my daughter's, has been wonderful to be in regular contact with.

that Japanese friend is just great

When Amber discussed this with Keoni and I she tried making the point that China isn't so bad, even as a nation, that a broad range of atrocities aren't happening, related to ordinary life experience not having anything to do with them.  I get it.  Keoni and I had to express that some of the negativity is grounded, that China does restrict flow of information and internet access, and worse, and houses concentration camps, but then the US has those too.  Either country might contest that negative designation, but if an "immigrant detention center" is holding people indefinitely and separating family members, in conditions that aren't monitored or discussed outside those facilities, then it just is what it is.  China probably couldn't turn a blind eye to the homeless and mentally ill population that's living on the streets in US cities, even if their solutions may not be ideal if that would come up.

The US gets in wars for bad reasons, for personal profit of people with influence in government, and China makes territorial waters claims that other countries don't see as reasonable; it's kind of a wash.  China is better at monitoring its population, at collecting face recognition based video data, but the US is essentially collecting and retaining all the same information in other ways.  The US doesn't maintain social credit scores; there probably are real differences that are better or worse across different aspect range, maybe generally in favor of the US being "freer" in some ways.  Of course that freedom doesn't help you when you get murdered for being out in public in the wrong place and time; in that case it probably would've been nice if the shooter didn't have free access to military use weapons.

I think these nationalistic perspective differences, the standard negative narratives, aren't helpful or positive, for people in any countries.  Those evolve on their own, and support the aims of a few.  I see it as a general level of background ignorance and foolishness more than a conspiracy theory-oriented designed shared conception, although I suppose in China's case maybe there is more coordinated intent behind it.  At least US media extremism seemed to evolve more organically, for better or worse, driven by personal interests of a limited few more than an organized political agenda (which doesn't work out to be so different).

There's a saying that relates to travel dispelling these forms of misconceptions and limited perspective, to contact with other countries resolving them.  I suppose that works.  If you go with your daughter and her Chinese friend to a play area you see that she's no different than your own family members, and over a dinner at IKEA there wouldn't be too much to go on about related to real differences or antagonism between the US and China.  They have play areas and IKEAs in China too, of course.  That girl plays violin and does martial arts, not so different than Keo doing Tai Kwan Do when younger, or kids in the US taking that up.  All three kids, mine and hers, took up roller-blading as an activity when younger, and all swim now.

both of them younger, a year before covid

We've met them one more time since writing this initial draft, with those newer experiences all the more positive.  It was disturbing to hear that my daughter's friend had experienced negative reception from many of the girls in her summer camp class; they wouldn't accept her playing with them.  Some of that could relate to language issues, but I suspect it's a negativity related to outsiders in general, not just related to her being Chinese.  

My daughter wouldn't accept such a thing, if she was there with them, even in relation to someone who wasn't a close friend of hers.  In Honolulu, where both my kids just first went to attend a school a year ago, they both experienced no such negative reception.  The kids there are from all over, most mixed race, almost all including some Asian background, so it makes sense.  It goes beyond that though; there is a real local culture in Honolulu and Hawaii that focuses on friendliness, openness, and acceptance, in spite of immigration to there being a really serious problem, pushing housing and other costs beyond what many working locals can keep up with.

Related to the visiting playing with a friend was the focus; it had little to do with cultural differences or similarities.

Adapting to running in heat, related to training in Bangkok

my local running route, a track around the nearby Royal palace

I saw a text content post about how to approach running in heat recently, from a favorite Youtube video channel source, Believe in the Run, with that post here.  

Their advice was all pretty standard stuff, but definitely good advice, about running in clothing that wicks moisture well, wearing light colors, running in the morning or evening to miss the hottest time of day, wetting clothing or a hat (which makes all the difference for desert hiking), and even running in the rain.  Other points were perhaps less practical but still worth considering, like trying to run in the shade.  There's a sidewalk beside the running or biking track where I run and I do switch over sometimes if one part is better shaded, which varies based on direction of the sun.

that sidewalk under repair (left) has been mostly completed since

I've written status updates about my training, last about running longer distances in Honolulu a couple of months ago, bumping my local route from 7 km to 12.  Heat wasn't much of an issue there; it could get up to 88 F or so (31 C), but with generally lower humidity and an ever-present breeze even running in the mid-day sun felt fine.

From running in Bangkok I had some ideas to add to that Believe in the Run content I mentioned, commented there as follows:

I've been running in Bangkok, as hot and humid as anywhere, and a couple of extra points come to mind. You need to stay on top of electrolyte replacement, not just after a run, but as a supplement routine based on estimated extra demand. Heat can be treated as another conditioned tolerance, like running at altitude, so adding exposure to the hottest times can help, just in moderation, building up. Easing pace helps, but you condition to an amount of exposure, with distance and time going together. 

There's one unique feel to learn to recognize, the early stage of heat stroke. It's not unlike normal fatigue but not the same. Your energy level might not drop that much, and breathing speed up a little, but beyond those you can feel when it's enough. Running relaxed helps tolerance.

From seeing videos about this topic recently (it's the peak of the Northern latitudes summer) I've been considering the subject, which really hit home moving from Honolulu to Bangkok again a bit over a month ago.  For the first two weeks I was just re-acclimating to the heat, conditioning to be able to run here again, building up tolerance and distance.  To some extent that's ongoing; lots of days I'll quit after 4 miles (6 km), instead of running the usual 6+ miles / 10 km, if I'm out in mid-day and the heat is getting to me.

Of course for people tracking heart rate--which I don't do, even though that makes sense--there's a decent chance that heat stress would spike that, so it would be easy to see when the effect is kicking in.  I still think it would be best to monitor internal feel, since how you react to heat stress as an input seems to vary a good bit outing to outing.  Heart rate monitoring alone might not protect you, and noticing impact in other ways could help.

When I was younger I would hike in the desert in Utah on vacation when it would get up to 115 F (46 C); the rules and effect is different during hiking, when it's much easier to moderate intensity.  You could carry large bottles or jugs of water frozen, to drink cold water, and to carry a cool pack, I just didn't because I was camping on those outings, of course without bringing a freezer.  That Believe in the Run article mentioned that trick, that you can bring ice, and it can cool you through body contact through a pocket.

It's a lot more of a balancing act when running than when hiking.  Intuitively running slower would help, but it only helps so much, and you have to be acclimated for that to work in Bangkok heat and humidity.  It's a relatively cool and cloudy day outside now and it's 90 F, for example, 32 C, and if it happened to be sunny it would've been more like 35 C in mid-afternoon, on towards upper 90s.  Checking the next day it's now 86 F at 9 AM (30 C), with the daytime low above the 25 C (78 F) version of room temperature here, even though it's the rainy season, not hot out by local standards.

it is nice running that route at sunset, when it works out like that

my old Diamondhead loop (Honolulu) route at sunset; a bit nicer

I run when it fits my schedule, versus a cool time of the day, and it's odd how often that's at noon, on a lunch break.  I'm not a morning person so before work is out, and I can't run right after eating, so evening time gets limited by dinner plans.  When you have kids your schedule just isn't your own to dictate, period, and what everyone else is doing factors in.

So what else did I miss in that comment?  It's a bit of a false parallel comparing heat training to altitude conditioning, even though in part that works.  Extra red blood cells aren't going to help you, and there's a limit to your body acclimating to operate at a higher internal temperature.  "Running relaxed" is a funny subject theme, one I was just considering out on my last run.  You can shift how your body reacts to the experience with practice, slowing breathing pace and reducing internal tension, even without cutting pace.  

There wasn't that much "how to" in those comments.  It would help to not run "out and back" routes when time or distance exposure issues aren't clearly determined; it would seem odd to run half of an 8 mile route here and end up taking a taxi back.  I run two versions of local repeating long loops so it doesn't come up, here.

Replacing electrolytes becomes critical when it's hot; there's a lot more about levels and approach to get to.  That's familiar ground from dabbling in fasting over the past year, and something that I've just seen an interesting reference for in a Reddit running group post, here:

...some people have done some research to see what electrolytes the average person loses in sweat.  SaltStick claims:

"The average persons sweats a salt ratio of 220 Sodium to 63 Potassium to 16 Calcium to 8 Magnesium."

That's a ratio of:

Magnesium: 1x; Calcium: 2x; Potassium: 7.875x; Sodium: 27.5x

That goes on to compare a large number of electrolyte supplements, and I suppose many drink versions, based on those forms of replacement being universally accepted in running circles.  A Reddit fasting sub reference takes a different approach, and explains daily requirements and varying approaches for using other mineral replacement forms, for example using potassium based salt substitute mixed with water.  In fasting circles people focus only on replacing sodium, potassium, and magnesium, generally, but a friend once mentioned that calcium level falling out of balance with those others could be a problem.

To me it makes more sense to try to guess about extra demand and add that back into your diet gradually, day to day, than to try to immediately replace an estimate of exactly what a long run just expended.  I take magnesium and calcium as supplement pills, and use a potassium based salt replacement, at times drinking that and salt mixed into water, after longer outings.  Using that approach your electrolyte levels can stay a bit high, beyond that periodic dip, but as long as you drink plenty of water overshooting intake wouldn't be a problem, because your kidneys could keep removing the excess.  Staying very hydrated is critical anyway; I try to gradually restore water balance over each day as well, versus drinking a lot just before or during a run.  I do try to consider when I'm going to run and drink half a liter or so of extra water a half an hour before an outing, just to be on the safe side.  

Even though I'm often running 10 km (6 miles) in extreme heat and humidity I don't drink water while out; I hydrate before going out and drink immediately after.  That's about as far as I think that approach would work, under those conditions; for quite long runs drinking water while running would be necessary, and adding electrolyte supplements.  Per following running social media content, like that Youtube channel, lots of runners tend to love adding extra products and gear to their routines, varying drinks and energy gels, or more recently a "legionnaire's hat" for extra shade around your neck.  I'm definitely in the other group, not buying or collecting any extra stuff or using much for supplements.  I've developed a running shoe habit; that's about it.

another favorite running channel, Kofuzi's

missing my new addition and favorite pair; this includes my son and daughter's shoes

my favorite shoes, ACIS Novablast 3, but I really like the New Balance 1080 too

One important part of adapting to running in the heat is liking it.  If you absolutely hate the experience it would be natural to avoid it, and it all would never click.  Relaxing would be harder.  In discussing heat acclimation, in travel or expat threads, I often mention that a big part of adapting to heat, in general, is to keep experiencing it.  Living out all of your daily routine in cold air conditioning will then relate to struggling with the change when you go outside.  Going for a walk is perfect light contact, or working outside, or just being exposed to indoor natural temperatures.  It's crazy to me how so many of the aspects of daily life that we've dropped out seem relatively ideal for maintaining good body mobility, activities like hanging out laundry to dry.

It can help to reset AC temps higher, which would also save on a utility bill, setting that to 26 to 28 C here instead of 22 (closer to 80 than 70 F).  For many that would defeat the purpose; my wife (who is Thai) would much rather sleep at 22 C than 26 (closer to 70 than 80 F), and for her limiting cooling to 25 already is a compromise.

How would someone develop a love for being really hot, which is almost objectively a negative state of being?  I don't see it as so different than adjusting to the experience of running, which doesn't come naturally to most people.  You can walk first, then run slowly, and later even higher levels of exertion become pleasant, on some level, and then you crave it (in general, or maybe even when it's hot).  No one craves running in the mid 30s C / mid 90s F, in high humidity, when the early phase of heat stroke experience enters in before long, but it can normalize as an internal experience, more than it might seem possible.  

Just as that higher degree of exertion, just the running, feels unpleasant without acclimation if you never experience heat exposure in any positive context of course it's going to seem bad.  Outdoor childhood play can lead to acclimation early on, but it would be harder to identify with later on.  For the longest time my Thai family was happy that I didn't die on runs out on hot afternoons; it's also a cultural convention here in Bangkok that you should avoid the heat.  Only in a few cases did I experience hitting a wall on runs, experiencing part of what they were concerned about, significant physical distress.

where we live in Honolulu, from Diamondhead; lots of nice running routes

Visiting a Bangkok Chinatown shop

 

Kittichai and Gerda

I've written this basic post a number of times, about visiting my favorite Bangkok Chinatown shop, Jip Eu (on FB here), so next it comes up how to vary that, or why to write at all.

I recently visited to meet an online tea contact, Gerda, who wanted to explore local tea options, which is the main repeating theme.  I've met some of my best tea friends under exactly these circumstances, most notably Huyen, Suzana, and Ralph, that covid-era online social group.  It's always nice having an excuse to do an extra shop visit, and I'm always considering buying tea to give to local monk friends anyway, since they can't go out shopping on their own, due to a restriction against that.

I'll cover how this visit went related to someone being new to tea learning about types, exactly what happened.  That will naturally overlap with concerns about why it could be difficult exploring teas in this way, especially related to visiting Chinatown shops, which are a singularly good resource for tea enthusiasts, but there can be problems to work around using such a source.

It was interesting seeing that visit posted as a Tik Tok edited video, here, showing that shop, the owner Kittichai, and I'm briefly in it.

That visit background

That new tea friend is another American also living in Bangkok; we met through mention of potential for meetups (tastings, as intended) in a local Facebook tea page I started awhile back.  I might clarify that I'm living between Bangkok and Honolulu these days, since we moved to Honolulu so my son, who is now in high school, could experience that education system.  I'm still based in Bangkok for work, and my company very generously let me work remotely for over 4 of the last 10 months.

That visit started with asking her about her favorite tea type, which is rolled oolong, along the line of Tie Guan Yin, so that's what we tried first.  The owner, Kittichai, who feels a bit like an extra uncle here (which I have a few of, between Bangkok and Oahu, a real blessing) started showing us a more roasted version, and based on her preference we switched to a greener version.

blending modest quality Shui Xian at that shop

I was familiar with Kittichai having family in both Anxi (in Fujian where TGY is produced) and in Wuyishan (where "rock oolong" comes from), but had lost track of him having a brother in both areas, both of whom make and sell tea.  So nice!  That doesn't necessarily mean that everything he presented from those areas is exactly what it's described as, but it bumps the likelihood quite a bit.  I take everything I hear related to tea as a generality that's either very likely or unlikely to be true, or indeterminate, not that I have a suspicious nature, but most sheng pu'er sold is described as gushu (old plant material), growing under natural conditions, and a lot probably isn't that, and definitive sorting is problematic.

The Tie Guan Yin was good.  Good is all relative; to me the best versions of that type are sweet and floral, perhaps with some vegetal base tones, clean in effect, with good intensity, good mouthfeel, and some aftertaste carry-over. It was like that, positive and pleasant.  Then saying all that reminds me of a discussion recently when use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers came up, with that discussion participant claiming that the valued typical character of much Taiwanese rolled oolong, which are like that, with pronounced mineral tone base added, comes in part from use of lots of chemicals.  

How to place that?  Any gardener knows that if you bump nitrogen and other inputs, maybe even including the plant equivalent of steroids, compounds that trigger growth, and pesticide protection for the plants, you can max out plant growth and robust produced fruit or flower character, but all at a cost.  One cost is that you're consuming at least some of the residual traces of that.  Since all of this is a tangent here lets get back to what we experienced that day in that shop.

Next we tried a Rou Gui presented as from within that park area in Wuyishan.  If it is that it's definitely an organic tea (per my understanding, which is always limited to some extent), because inputs of what can be brought in that area are controlled through checkpoints.  What are the odds that the tea wasn't what it was described as?  Impossible to judge.  Authenticity is much higher given the background context, that sourcing occurred in connection with well-connected and trusted locals there, but again I tend to take it all as probabilities, and not sweat the uncertainty.

one is Kittichai's brother, pictured on elaborate packaging he showed us

Rou Gui brings up an unusual "trueness to type" issue because it's a translation of cinnamon, and versions tend to taste like cinnamon, but not all do.  Some can be absolutely amazing while tasting nothing like cinnamon; apparently a set of inputs including plant type genetics and growing inputs can bring out citrus or even peach notes.  This tasted a good bit like cinnamon, which of course is also nice.  Roast was moderate; often very high roast can ruin such teas, although that should be an input relating to error, or an intentional step used to mask flaws.  Or some people prefer heavily roasted tea versions, of course.

High quality Wuyi Yancha versions can be made in a range of different styles, and this was in that range.  It's tempting to point out which I see as most traditional, since hearsay input would link to such claims, but who knows if that even makes sense.  50 to 100 years ago there was probably a good bit of variation in styles, so claiming one style was quite universally regarded as optimum in an earlier golden age probably doesn't work.  Or maybe the opposite is true, but it may be impossible to find great sources to settle this point for you, even there "on the ground" in China in that area.  Beyond only mostly believing stories about production inputs I tend to focus more on the experience of teas than stories about history or version changes over time.

Kittichai wasn't telling such stories anyway; he was describing character related to how good versions tend to be, back more on starting points, because that was relevant for that audience, for someone who needed to become clearer on what rock oolong and Rou Gui are first.  We talked a little about an aging issue as an exception, with me explaining to her that my preference related to this style is that there would be no point in aging it, since freshness, quality, and pleasantness all came across well just then, which Kittichai agreed with.  It was interesting how with him also minding the store a bit (his wife was missing that day; kind of a shame) he said the same thing separately, a few minutes later.

Kittichai really does know teas, in a sense better than me.  I can't make tea, produce it from fresh leaves, and he can, and has.  That brings up an odd point we discussed; he described these teas as hand-made.  Per lots of discussion with another tea friend in Wuyishan (Cindy Chen, of Wuyi Origin) it's just not practical for people to be making very high quality tea completely by hand, because it takes too much work input, so it really comes down to using different kinds of machines for different volumes of tea production.  For some artisan out there making a few kgs a year of some special version maybe, but it's harder to imagine someone replicating that tight ball shape for Tie Guan Yin.

I never did describe that Rou Gui.  The other TGY description was general enough it works, just swapping out some flavor description:  it was pleasant related to lacking flaws, having a decent full feel, with a nice mineral base, good intensity, and pronounced aftertaste.  For flavors some cinnamon joined other earthier range, not heavy at all related to roast level being a moderate input.  Pronounced aftertaste and structured feel really stood out.  I described how a mineral range not completely unlike how some pen ink smells can work as a quality level marker, and that was included.  Flavor intensity wasn't full-blast, but aftertaste experience really lingered, all of which works.

The nicest part of getting tea in that shop is that there's an uncountable range of variation in there, maybe too much, since finding exactly what you want might be easier from a list of 25 or 30 versions, versus hundreds of types being stashed away.  Kittichai showed us a novel bud and fine leaf version from Fuding (also Fujian), which looked great, a lot like good Bai Mu Dan or Nepal white versions, but we didn't try it.  Someone just walking into that shop might not ever hear about that white tea version, or end up trying the two teas we did, or learn that there's plenty of aged sheng pu'er in there as well (it's not their specialty, but it's a good place to buy an old Xiaguan, Dayi, or CNNP cake, or even better versions, just from a limited selection).  They tend to ask guests what types they are interested in, and that's what they would hear about, and perhaps try some of, and maybe only that.

To keep the visit description moving at the end I bought some inexpensive Shui Xian oolong for the monks I often visit, and she bought some of the TGY.  It's a good place to buy inexpensive jasmine green tea too, to add another recommendation to that.  

Kittichai gave us samples of a Fujian white tea and a Rou Gui, which he said wasn't as good as the other we tried, but is pleasant.  That's too much, really, for a vendor to share samples when your purchase is so limited, and you've been tasting top shelf teas there, but that's how it goes visiting a vendor who feels like visiting an uncle.  Sometimes I bring him tea too, I just didn't that day.  He mostly only likes the conventional Chinese style range, extending out to appreciating sheng pu'er, so bringing him Thai sheng versions that don't completely match, or Assam or Darjeeling or whatever, he can appreciate as novel but they're not what he likes.  Fair enough.

Walking back to the MRT station we passed another local well-regarded tea shop, K. Mui Tea, not more than a long block away from Jip Eu.  I pointed out the tea stuffed oranges that many people find interesting, and she bought a white tea version, and I bought two shu pu'er versions for monks (I've got tea to drink; I might buy a cake to set aside once in awhile but I don't tend to buy 100 grams of this or that for me). 

That shop owner greeted us (warmly; I'm sure that he's a good guy, from that and prior contact), and we tasted a shu version and some Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong, even though we were mostly just passing by.  The Dan Cong was pretty good for the price range, the rare type-typical, slightly above average range quality selling at good value that doesn't always come up for Dan Cong.  The shu was good for an aged, medium quality version, a 2006 tea that I remember selling for $40 or so per cake pricing.  You don't get best of the best of anything for that modest pricing, but pretty good shu can be nice, and good value, and that's what it seemed to be.  I mentioned to my companion that it's regarded as the gentlest for your stomach, aged shu pu'er.

that is about $40

different stuffed citrus and pu'er dragonballs (shown) are good for a quick impulse buy

And that was the outing, quite pleasant, with a lot of ground covered in a short span of time.  Randomly visiting Chinatown shops can actually be unpleasant instead, at times relating to not getting much attention from vendors, or not tasting above average tea versions selling for low prices.  What you might try in a visit can be random, depending on what you communicate, and how a shop owner interprets that.  What we tried in Jip Eu was at fair pricing; it was more a concern that neither of us was really in the market for buying much volume of above average quality tea.  

The better Wuyi Yancha in Jip Eu has tended to sell for 1000 to 1500 baht per 100 grams in the past, $30 if it's just good tea, and $45 if a background condition relates to rarity and higher demand, as with that Rou Gui version, described as from within the natural park area there.  It's awkward comparing that to how inexpensive what I bought was; their main market is for selling low priced related oolong versions for very little, more like $3 per 100 grams.  It would take a lot of sales volume to keep a shop open, selling teas like that, and shop overhead in the US or UK would prevent it from being possible at all, even with moderate better income stream from the other better teas.

at a recent religious event at Wat Pho

visiting there with a family friend from China exactly 4 years ago

visiting with that girl this past weekend, a bit grown up now