Dr. Mark Nan Tu 涂南博士

Traveling alone can be fun at times when you meet interesting people.

I was sitting in a bar at Siam Reap, Cambodian watching a documentary of Angkor Wat, drinking a coke and eating my fish fillet. A man in his 60s walked in and sit across me. He was white and had a cow-boy hat on and looked well-fed and prospers. “What do you want for drink?” “Asked the waiter?’ “Diet Coke please.” He answered.

I was very uncomfortable when a stranger watching me eat my dinner. So I decided to break the ice. “American?” I asked.
“How do you know?”
“Well, only American (woman)orders Diet Coke”
He was apparently embarrassed. “Yes, the doctor told me to watch my weight”. “Traveling alone?” He asked
“Yes, how about you?”
“Me too.” He replied

So we chatted about the US politics, the foot ball, traveling in SE Asia and we compared with the “service” in these SE counties. “You know one of the main problem I had in this part of the world is that the girls do not speak much English, here, let me tell you a story.”

Once I met this girl in Bangkok. She was super nice and she even carried the bags when we went shopping. “I told her that in America, man are suppose to carry the bags” She said that this is Thailand, women are equal. You know, I love Thailand.
At night ,we came back to my hotel. She helped me with the bath and finally we were on the bed. Then she asked. “Do you have a condo?”
“Yes, I do have a condo.”
“Show me your condo.”
I was very surprised. My condo is in the US. Why does she want to see my condo?
“Sorry, I can not show you my condo, my condo is in the US, I do not have a picture with me.”
Apparently, she was not happy. “Condo, condo.” She cried out load.
I thought may be she wants me to buy her a condo in Thailand. “How much is a condo in Thailand?”
“Cheap, cheap.” She replied.
“Really?” This is really bad. I mean I can get a full service in Darling (Nana plaza) for $65 + tip. Why should I buy her a condo? I was angry. “No, no condo.” I said.
“No condo, no love making.” She insisted.
So, we dragged on and on. I was pretty tired the next morning. I finally got so pissed off by the whole condo episode and I called my friend who spoke Thai.
“Could you please ask her why does she want my condo? “

My friend spoke to her and then she passed the phone back to me.
“Jerry, please go across the street to the 7/11 store and get a Durex.”

I am sitting in an internet cafe at the Ko Chang island, Thailan. The cafe owner greeted me: Ko Ni Chi Wa. (Japanese equivlant of Hello). “Sorry, I am not a Japanese and do not speak Japanese” “Korean?” she asked. “No, I am a Chinese”.

Throught out the North America and now in SE asia, I have been mistaken as Korean or Japanese. Not a single time that I was greeted with familar “Ni Hao” This makes me wonder when the Chinese will start to roam the world, not as illegal immigrants shipped in by containers but as tourists and explorers.

Across the street, the resturant has a TV set which is showing the Star TV movie in English. Yeap, after this artical, I am going to walk across and order my favorate Thai dish, – fried squid on rice. I will watch Nicholas Cage.

How many times that I have to say that I am a Chinese?