Little Differences

Restaurants
- at one restaurant we got our bill before even getting our drinks!
- we went into a Subway one day to find the girl, in plain sight, straightening her hair with a straigtening iron (we left, to her astonishment, right away)
- they don’t tend to bring the meals at the same time, so you will have your meal for sometimes 5 minutes before they bring your companion’s
- they hover at the table waiting for your order, and again when they give you the bill (waiting for you to pay)
- food is eaten with a spoon and fork – the fork is used to help the food onto the spoon and you eat with the spoon
- street vendors give you your food in little bags closed with rubber bands, so you get whatever you ordered in one bag, the rice in another bag, and the sauce in another. Even drinks with ice are served in a bag with a straw – oh, and drinks always come with straws, even if you buy a coke at the 7-11

Street Vendors and Restaurants
- they are quite aggressive asking you to look at their products even following you down the street
- they will try talking to you to get your business even if you pass the same place 5 times and have already said no each time (which makes even a 3 day stay a bit trying)
- they are quite tricky and will stretch out their hand saying hello and asking where you are from, then not letting go
- they always say “sir” and “madam”, not “miss”, and tend to focus more on the man (I was less harassed when on my own)
- walking down the street you are bombarded with “taxi?”, “tuk tuk?” (a small truck with seats in the back offering taxi services), “massage?”, “DVD?”, “tour?” – some of them even offer everything!
- you can negotiate the price on anything, even medication at pharmacies
- vendors promote their clothes as “free size” (one size fits all) but it’s really one size fits any Barbie – anything to sell right?

Driving
- there are no rules except the biggest car has the right of way
- you will find 2, 3, or even 4 people on the motorcycles
- girls often ride side-saddle when riding as a passenger
- you will find women with their little babies (driving with one hand) on motorcycles
- people often don’t wear any helmets
- you will even find small children driving motorcycles

Toilets
- households and most “equipped” public toilets have a little showerheads on a hose which are used instead of toilet paper to clean yourself (actually quite nice)

7-11
- you can pay all your household bills at the 7-11
- when pouring a slurpee a lot of air is mixed in, so a few minutes later you’ll find that you have 3/4 cup once all the air has escaped
... to mention a few.