Good and Bad

Published 2006-09-11
Good Bad
Slightly sweet popcorn Slightly sweet beer
Owners of small dogs Small dogs
Old guys doing inexplicable Chinese exercises like walking backwards uphill while slapping their necks Young guys doing 7 sets of 20 reps each on the Smith press for half an hour
Seawater lake (incoming tide) Seawater lake (outgoing tide)
Strangers who want to practice their English Strangers who won’t attempt to understand your Mandarin
Dried salted fish Reconstituted dried salted fish
Fish, rice, peanuts and cabbage for ¥ 10 (US$1.25) Coffee and a croissant for ¥ 75 (US$9.50)
Cabbies who have no idea where you want to go but are game to try Cabbies who know exactly where you want to go but won’t take you there because their shift is over and it’s not on their way back to the garage
Being stared at Being stared at while eating
Funny-smelling restaurants Funny-smelling shoe stores
Cold green tea Hot soy milk