I haven't been to the Hong Kong bird market, but I've been to bird markets in Taiwan-- and the bird market in Singapore.

When Taj Reid over at www.wejetset.com sent us a link to this lush post on song bird love in Hong Kong, and the delights to be found at the bird market, I was reminded of my own pleasures when I sat in a courtyard sipping on coffee, listening to birds sing on a Sunday morning.

Owning song birds is just not a matter of heading to the local pet store and picking up a canary, you see. In Hong Kong, as with my experience in Taiwan and Singapore, picking out the right bird and the right cage is an art that depends on personal taste.

When I lived in Taiwan, I normally didn't have a clue where I was going. The signage was not particularly helpful. I didn't read Chinese, and, outside of Taipei, that's mostly what you saw. Even when there were signs in English, there was an inconsistency with how street names were spelled.

Ask people to spell a word phonetically, and you'll see variation. In Taiwan, up until recently, there were various systems used to translate words from Chinese into English. Unless there are standardized rules that everyone adheres to, variety might remain the spice of life, but getting from here to there is problematic.

Recognizing that when visitors come to Taiwan, whether for business or pleasure, they have a desire to be able to find their way easily, Taiwan has officially adopted the "hanyu pinyin writing system" for translating Chinese to English. This Reuters article explains the details about how the government is publishing a spelling guide in order to redo road signs in order to reflect the consistency. The changes will start in 2009.

No longer will you see "Minquan Road," "Minchuan Road," "Binjiang Street," and "Pin Chiang Street" on various signs for the exact same street. See what I mean? Wouldn't that drive you a bit NUTS?!

(Although, as you can see from the Flickr photo by onkio & di's, some signs in Taiwan do reflect the adage, "A picture speaks a thousand words." At least the part about the car getting towed.)

This shot from arex was taken in Taiwan's Shi-lin night market. Ahh, I can almost smell the garlic-filled sausage sizzling on the grill, and I can almost hear the white noise of a language I'll never understand.

Anyone have a free plane ticket to Asia?

To have your photos considered for Gadling's Photo of the Day, submit your best shots here.

A mailbox is not exactly the most fascinating subject for a photo. But somehow, I can't take my eyes off of this particular mailbox, captured by Flickr user arex while in Taiwan China. There's a number of things that caught my eye. It's a flat photo but yet it manages to give an impression of pattern and texture - the yellow mail slot, the peeling paint of the walls, and the bright blue signage combine to make the image jump out at you. Add in the ghostly black edges around the frame and the result is something that seems almost cinematic. Nice work.

Have you taken any photos of mailboxes in Beijing? Or perhaps just the post office in Boston? Why not add them to the Gadling pool on Flickr? We might just pick it for our Photo of the Day.

Aaron's post this morning with his musings about positive stereotypes reminded me of one of my absolute FAVORITE YouTube videos, "Crazy Asian Mother." It is a hoot.

Two high school age boys role play what happens when the mother looks over her son's report card. Listen for the list of classes and the humorous jab at the parenting skills of white American parents. Very funny and illustrates other aspects of stereotyping.

When I first saw this video a year or so ago, I was transported back to my 8th grade English and social studies classroom in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Those students were funny, charming, and the work they turned in on a daily basis was astounding. Grading their papers was a joy. Honestly. They were the kids of high powered very bright parents, and they were under pressure to succeed, although their parents greatly valued the flexibility and creativity found in the American education system. It was the best of both worlds. These two guys would have fit right into my classroom.

Whenever my daughter feels that she's pressured to succeed because I have ONE MORE TIME AND NOT FOR THE LAST TIME given her the litany of why she must do well in school in that annoying voice that only adults have, I think those Asian mothers who taught me a thing or two when I lived in Taiwan. As I explain to my daughter, I must have been a crazy Asian mother in a past life. Some things do rub off on a person when one travels.

By the way, I actually think there's a crazy Asian mother in every parent. Even men. That's why this video has almost 5,000,000 hits.

Wow! Wow! Wow! I could go on.

Even though today's news brought the missive of the out of character stabbing of an American tourist in Beijing, the opening ceremony of the Olympics was certainly in character.

It was amazing--and I only saw the last bit. That's one detail about traveling; world events swirl about in the periphery until a thought passes through, like, "Didn't the Olympics start today?" and the TV is flipped on to the right channel. I remembered the Olympics just in time to catch the finale.

The NBC TV commentators were as amazed by the ceremonial hoopla as much as I was-- maybe even more. Even though they expected a spectacular showing from China, the result was brilliant.

As Matt Lauer asked about the opening, "Is it usually this way?" Bob Costas said, summarized in a word, "No."

The synchronized acrobatics and dance routines in the final clips before the credits rolled were versions of performances I saw at the school where I taught in Taiwan-- X 100, of course. Once a year there is Field Day where the entire school day is given over to athletic competitions. Each grade also performs a synchronized performance that takes hours of practice.

To see what can be done with hundreds of school kids who pay attention is astounding. I wasn't surprised to see what can be done with adults. Still, the result was a spectacular feat of skill and wonder.

Well, even Taiwan is now more environmentally progressive than the US.

About 10,000 convenience stores in Taiwan will join an environmental push by withholding disposable chopsticks from hordes of customers used to getting them with take-out meals, Reuters reports.

From next Wednesday in Taipei, and by July 1 on the rest of the island, four convenience store chains will give out the wooden single-use chopsticks only on request. Taiwan's small restaurants also will be encouraged, with the enticement of saving money, to phase out disposable chopsticks, claiming that "conservation is getting to be mainstream" and that it shouldn't be an issue.

Conservation efforts are happening elsewhere in Asia. For example, China banned production of ultra-thin plastic bags in May and activists in Japan are pushing for a reduction of wooden chopsticks, which are already made from recycled chips. I travel with my own chopsticks anyway, so it would be a non-issue for me.

I wish conservation was "becoming mainstream" in the US. I think the minute Americans get "forced" to carry reusable chopsticks or forks for take-out lunch, there might be riots in the streets.

[via Asiaone]

Believe it or not, China and Taiwan held their first formal talks in 10 years and, productively enough, decided to allow direct weekend air travel between the two destinations as a result, BBC reports. Previously, direct flights were only allowed during four holiday periods each year. Otherwise, travelers had to fly through Hong Kong or Macao.

The weekend passenger flights will begin on July 4 and there will be 36 flights each week, with China and Taiwan operating 18 flights each. From July 18, each side will also allow in 3,000 tourists per day - a move that triples the number of mainland Chinese who will be allowed into Taiwan.

How progressive! China must really want to attract as many people as possible for the Olympics...

Sex and the City was the hot topic the summer between our two years living in Taiwan and our two years in India. I saw it once at a friend's house when I stopped over in Albuquerque for a few days visit. I liked it, but nothing I couldn't live without. I was jet-lagged anyway. Two years later, I saw one more episode. Friends we were visiting in Pochetello, Idaho had TiVoed it---something else that was new phenomenon in the U.S. cultural scene.

Five years after that, there I was last night with two of my women friends at the opening night Sex and the City event at Drexel East, one of the independent movie theaters in Columbus, Ohio. One friend was wearing a black dress. Since living overseas has made me totally out of tune with what to wear on many occasions, and I don't travel in glamorous circles very often, I wasn't paying attention to my attire. Plus, this was a back to back event--the first event was the end-of -the-year potluck at my son's elementary school. With ten minutes in between the two, I had on a very nice T-shirt, black jeans and a pair of new shoes that fit into casual nice. Ooops.

I was all caught up with the Sex and the City storyline, however, thanks to videos and cable television. It used to be that living overseas meant huge chunks of popular culture were totally gone. It wasn't a terrible loss, but there were movies I hadn't seen, or events that happened in celebrity-ville that I wasn't privy too. There were some conversations at parties I couldn't join in. No loss really, but it was clear who had been living a life out of the American mainstream.

Although, finding deals are still on our minds (poor Iva in Moscow is having little luck), food and drink has been one topic of interest this week.

• Iva, for example, has found some solace in the vodka. She's discovered loads of it, and all brands are not the same.
• Aaron has clued us into saying good-bye to free peanuts--even though they cost peanuts-- and has told us where the best places to drink in 2008 are located.
• Tynan was wined and dined at the Lalu Hotel in Taiwan and found out that while staying in luxury you can eat vegan.
• Kent shared the advantages of a two-day trip to San Juan, one being eating Mexican food overlooking the ocean, Must be tough.
• But, if you want to know what it's like to work on an organic farm, ask Jerry. He has first-hand experience. It sounds tough. Check out part two tomorrow.
• I'm the one, though, who knows all about White Castle hamburgers, and I'm proud of it.

Have a great last half a weekend in May. Sunday is June 1. Hope you find something yummy.