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- Why the ‘white tax’ is perfectly acceptable
- World’s tallest hotel opens in Dubai
- Sydney: Home to the world's biggest coffee snobs?
- Awamori: A guide to Okinawa's tropical drink of choice
| Why the ‘white tax’ is perfectly acceptable Posted: 27 Feb 2013 10:02 PM PST
It's not new, it invariably amounts to squabbling over pennies and it appears to be an especially Asian phenomenon, but anyone who has traveled will at some point feel compelled to put their two cents in. Three cents if you're French, please. Recently, the Asiatique observation wheel in Bangkok was forced to drop its local/foreigner pricing strategy when blogger Richard Barrow started a cascade of indignant comments on its Facebook page about this "offensive" and "discriminatory" strategy. There are hundreds of other examples -- the Forbidden City, Beijing; the Taj Mahal, India; the whole country of Bhutan; Borobudur in Indonesia; rickshaws and tuk-tuks pretty much everywhere -- and the arguments boil down to this: foreigners are no longer richer than locals, it's racist and well, damnit, I just don't want to pay more. Let's pick this penny-pinching argument apart, shall we? Discounts, not hikesThe emergence of a few millionaires doesn't mean Asians earn the same as Americans or Europeans. Most not only earn significantly less on average, they can do less with it. I won't get into the details here; read this ILO report if you want to know more. So, just as students get discounted movie tickets and pensioners get discounted bus fares back home, lower earning "tourists" get discounted attractions. The point here being: at least some dual-priced things are discounted for the locals, rather than hiked for the foreigners. It's simple market economics. Nevertheless, every week you can find some purple-faced tourist sucking up a US$15 cocktail in a US$200-a-night hotel steaming with rage as he fulminates about the "extortionate" mark-up he just had to fork out at the temple -- probably a full US$2. He'll use the US$25-per-day hotel WiFi to Tweet his righteous anger around the world, while munching on a US$10 bag of peanuts from the irresistibly overpriced mini-bar. Yes, I know, I heard it before you said it: "It's not the money, it's the principle," as blogger Chris Wootton, if you have the strength to wade through his 4 million-word essay on the subject, argues. The principle presumably is that everyone should be treated the same, or, specifically, foreigners should be treated like locals. Well, if you've learned the language, adopted the culture and pay the taxes, maybe you have a point. Flash your resident's permit or work visa and you'll get the "local's price," too. But if you're a tourist, you probably don't. The tax that's overdue
Even if you're not a five-star traveler, even if you're a 'round-the-world backpacker who's abandoned underwear and decided shampoo is for fascists, do you really want to derail your good humor over a few bucks? I used to live in New Delhi, where for the last decade every single taxi and rickshaw meter has been "broken." The city is the world's meter graveyard, where rickshaw drivers transport the dead gauges from distraught tourist to distraught tourist, who take turns to wail like the bereaved over this inconceivable fare-computing tragedy. Each transaction ends the same way: a sweaty, flustered traveler slumps into the rickshaw after 10 minutes, concluding, finally, that this guy is a schmuck but Jesus if he really wants the extra 30 cents fine, he can have it. Better, surely, to just skip the first 10 minutes. I learned to consider the extra charges not just a white man tax, but a stress-avoidance tax, too. Do not fight India -- you will not win. Tourists have it good, tooIf you're genuinely aggrieved by that extra US$0.90 you had to pay to take a camera into the mosque, make your next trip to Seoul or Singapore. In Korea massive discounts are available exclusively to foreigners (not locals) at shops, parks, shows, restaurants and hotels. Singapore allows foreigners free access to its Marina Bay Sands entertainment district, while locals have to pay. Here the local/foreigner balance sheet will not only equalize, it will swing substantially in your favor. The anti-dual-pricing arguments are frustrating because they propagate the idea that there's something to fear whenever you go abroad, that paranoia and suspicion are legitimate emotions for travelers. The case of the "racist Ferris wheel" in Bangkok turned a faintly ludicrous corner when some invoked the Thai constitution; so the document designed to harmonize law and justice across the country is being used to get a US$1.50 discount on a fairground ride. Will the next target be discounts for kids, under the guise of "ageism"? If you're a gweilo, gaura, farang, baijo or gringo, the occasional US$2 overcharge is the price you pay for the freedom of entering a new culture -- the financial freedom as much as any other. Accept it, and the whole ride will be a lot more enjoyable. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of James Durston What's your opinion? Should foreigners be willing to pay more? Tell us below!      |
| World’s tallest hotel opens in Dubai Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:29 PM PST
The JW Marriott Marquis Dubai officially opened Wednesday as the world's tallest hotel. Granted the official record from the Guinness Book of World Records, the 72-floor latest icon in Dubai's skyline is made up of two towers standing 355 meters (1,164 feet) tall. Only one tower is currently open; the second is slated to open in 2014. It's the first of the Marquis brand of JW Marriotts -- "reserved only for the most iconic properties within the Marriott International portfolio," according to the company -- to be built outside North America. The hotel adds nine restaurants and five bars and lounges to the dining and nightlife options in the city.
While dwarfed by the Burj Khalifa, currently Dubai's and the world's tallest manmade structure at 830 meters, it's the tallest building entirely dedicated to a hotel.
Still, it's not the world's highest hotel. That title goes to the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong, which occupies the top floors of the 488-meter-tall (1,601 feet) International Commerce Center. Click here for an interactive tour of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong The JW Marriott Marquis Dubai hopes to tap into the MICE market (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), a segment that in the United States is worth about US$106 billion, according to JW Marriott. "The hotel will fill a long identified gap in the market where groups, meetings and conventions of up to a thousand people can meet, sleep and dine under one roof," said Rupprecht Queitsch, general manager of the new property. "Until now, Dubai has not had a single location of this size to accommodate this type of group." On the 71st and 72nd floors, the Vault Lounge offers panoramic views of the city.    |
| Sydney: Home to the world's biggest coffee snobs? Posted: 27 Feb 2013 06:00 PM PST Syndeysiders are a sunny lot on the whole, friendly and helpful. Unless you a screw up their cappuccino. Sydney doesn't have a coffee culture -- it has a coffee cult. If dueling were still acceptable in the city, I have no doubt that most pistols drawn at dawn would be to defend the honor of a venerated barista. My first experience with Sydney coffee Nazis came when, still fresh off the boat from London, I met a seemingly charming magazine contributor for a coffee in Surry Hills. He ordered a ristretto from the young barista. "What's that?" she asked echoing, more politely, my own thoughts. "Really," he said, completely crushing the poor girl. "If you are a barista you should know what a ristretto is -– it's half an espresso." More on CNN: How to make perfect coffee Half an espresso? She did her best, but compounded her ignorance by serving it in "the wrong cup." Presumably she should have raided a doll's house for a suitably sized drinking vessel. I later found out from a barista friend of mine that a ristretto is the sweetest part of the crema -– a concentrated shot with less bitterness than an espresso. Not exactly half an espresso then. Stories like this abound in Sydney, a city where people will walk out of coffee shops without ordering if they see the grinder looks full or dirty. You see them craning to make sure the steam pipe has been wiped down properly after each insertion. One barista was caught out because, while using a different jug for soy milk, they didn't use a different cloth to wipe the steam pipe. Everyone, it appears, is a coffee expert. Wrest them away from the aroma of their own favored coffee chapel and noses wrinkle with muttered comments about burnt beans and blasphemous brewing techniques. Even the Sydneysiders who don't tolerate caffeine have allied with the city's coffee snobs. When a woman came in asking for LSD, the barista naturally asked what she meant. "Latte soy dandelion coffee, of course," the customer sneered. "Everyone is drinking them in Newtown." A city full of beansSydney is a multicultural city that draws residents from all over the world. Clearly there are different customs and rituals with coffees in other parts of the planet. A barista was sweeping up a broken biscuit near two ladies, one of whom erupted in fury.
She then proceeded to march up to the barista, turn her back to her, lift up her buttocks and violently pass wind. After two years living in Sydney I now find myself more than mildly disappointed when I'm served a below average coffee. I've become a devotee of the Campos beans. More on CNN: Sydney's 5 most inventive coffees Of course it's not just the quality of the coffee but how fast the water is pushed through and how it's ground. The dynamic duo of Tom and Yipso in Taste on Foveaux Street in Surry Hills make a Campos long black like no one else in the city -- and anyone who disagrees can see me outside. If you want haute caffeine in Sydney, you have a wander outside of the main tourist areas. Here are some superior coffee shops to watch the locals getting their fix. Surry HillsIn the alleyways of Surry Hills are some of the best cups of coffee in the city. Once fortified you can zip up to Crown Street and enjoy the eclectic mix of boutique shops. Rueben Hills Über-urban and industrial with cool garage roller doors at the back -- the beans are roasted in the loft space. Rueben Hills doesn't just serve killer coffee, it makes a mean plate of food inspired by the Latin American countries from which the coffee beans are imported. The Tradies Breakfast (aimed at such rough sorts as architects and ad execs) is the best breakfast you've ever eaten in a brioche. 61 Albion St., Surry Hills; Reubenhills.com.au Single Origin Roasters/Sideshow Here you'll find your cup of joe brewed by Shoki Sasa, who won best barista in the 2012 Good Café Guide Awards. Anything you need to know about coffee, just ask the knowledgeable staff. 60-64 Reservoir St., Surry Hills; www.singleoriginroasters.com.au AlexandriaThe Grounds
This new venture is a mega-café, totally to be avoided on the weekend when you'd have to get up before you go to bed to avoid the queues. Naturally, they roast their own beans and the coffee is excellent. So is the food, served in a friendly atmosphere with a huge kitchen garden complete with chickens and a place for kids to play. Building 7, 2 Huntley St., Alexandria; Groundsroasters.com Bondi and BronteThe Crabbe Hole If you're looking for some frothy waves to go with your coffee froth, consider the Crabbe Hole at Bondi Beach. This compact, laid-back café has a million dollar view by the entrance to the ocean-side pool at Bondi Icebergs. It's a great place to put fuel in your tank before tackling the lovely Bondi to Coogee walk, or to enjoy an ice cream sandwich on the way back. 1 Notts Ave., Bondi Beach; Icebergs.com.au Three Blue Ducks Café by day, restaurant by night, the Three Blue Ducks serves up the ultimate Aussie breakfast. Avocado on toast with herb salad and oven-roasted tomatoes provide a simple but effective demonstration of the superb quality of raw ingredients Australia produces. Afterward, we recommend wandering down to the beach to watch the surfers battle tricky Bronte beach. 143 Macpherson St.; www.threeblueducks.com
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| Awamori: A guide to Okinawa's tropical drink of choice Posted: 27 Feb 2013 02:00 PM PST Most drinkers are familiar in name at least with saké, the fermented "rice wine" so intimately associated with Japanese cuisine. The more adventurous may know its working-class cousin shochu, a distilled spirit that forms the basis of many of the country's cocktails. But shochu's tropical cousin awamori, which hails from the islands of Okinawa, gets far less attention abroad. Awamori is a colorless distilled spirit whose closest analogue in the West is vodka -- but the similarities end with transparency. Awamori is generally a far lower proof, a quality that helps brings out a complex flavor profile, rough hewn with just a hint of sweetness –- consider awamori something like Japan's answer to bourbon. Unlike shochu, which can be made from potato, barley, rice or soba, Awamori is distilled exclusively from just three ingredients -- water, black koji yeast-culture and Thai rice. In fact, it's a localized version of a similar Thai beverage that first reached the islands in the 1400s. More on CNN: Okinawa: Which island is for you? How to drink awamori
In addition to the standard variety, there are cask-aged versions called kusu, written, appropriately enough, with the characters for "old liquor." With a higher alcohol content and a mellower, richer taste, kusu plays the single-malt scotch to Awamori's whiskey. Most are aged from three to ten years. Two and even 300-year vintages were once commonly available, but the clay jugs in which they were traditionally stored didn't fare well amid the bombs and bullets of World War II. For the truly adventurous, there is habushu: awamori bottled with a small pit viper. It tastes pretty much how you'd imagine the fluid from a specimen bottle in your high school biology class might taste. The price is rightAwamori is cheap. Really cheap. Try 500 yen (US$5.50) for a 750 ml bottle in some places. Bottles can be found for less than 1,500 yen (US$16) at liquor shops and convenience stores throughout Tokyo. Even high-end kusu rarely tops 4,000 yen (US$43). With hundreds of competing brands, choosing your first bottle of awamori can be confusing. Your best bet is to ask a knowledgeable local. Barring that, try them by the glass -- preferably at some seaside shack along the Okinawan coast. More on CNN: Okinawan cuisine: The Japanese food you don't know Where to see it brewed and try it
As an essential ingredient in Okinawan cuisine, you can find it at any good Okinawan restaurant. In fact, if a restaurant doesn't feature a healthy dozen or so varieties on its menu, it's a good sign you're probably better off eating elsewhere. If you find you've developed a passion for Okinawa's tropical drink of choice, there are several awamori breweries in the prefecture that offer guided tours. Zuisen Shuzou Distillery, Masahiro Awamori Gallery, Kamimura Distillery Mizuho Distillery and Chuko Distillery are all less than an hour's drive from Naha Airport in the Okinawa capital. For more details, visit the official Okinawa Tourism website. CNN Travel's series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy    |
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