#foreigners reaction mall of asia

[gukyi]

home | pjm

summary: one country after another, you have never had time to settle down. just because you meet your soulmate one night in a hotel in a foreign country doesn’t mean that will change. not even for him. 

{soulmate!au, idolverse!au}

pairing: park jimin x reader genre: melancholy angst? pining? wishing things in your life were different? word count: 1.5k warnings: alcohol mention a/n: a massive thank you to @opaljm​ for commissioning me for this drabble and donating to the #blacklivesmatter movement!! i really appreciate it. this is the first soulmate au (and idolverse fic!) i’ve written in a while, so i hope i did it justice!

Travelling has always been the best and worst part of your job. The stamps in your passport and unexplored cities. The long, red-eye flights and overpriced hotel food. There are many pros and many cons to travelling, but the worst one of them all is the fact that nowhere really feels like home. 

Not your apartment, which you stay at so infrequently that it’s starting to feel more like a hotel suite where you have to pay for utilities on top of residency. Nor your workplace, which is more your laptop on an airplane tray table than a desk in an office. and certainly not anywhere you’ve been, though they are all wonderful places in their own right, filled with rich histories and delicious meals. It feels like you’re a tourist of your own life. 

Like nowhere has stuck. 

People dream of being able to travel around the world, spending a month here and a couple of weeks there, but the glamor wears off faster than you wish it did and everything feels as though it’s beginning to lose its spark. 

But nonetheless, you must go on. 

Besides, there’s a part of you that sort of wonders if you’ll ever meet your soulmate on one of these many trips, see them standing in a quaint European cafe or in the check-in line at an airport. See that halo around their figure, that warm yellow glow, feel the sparks rush through your bodies when you touch. 

There’s nothing terribly dramatic about meeting them, though all the movies and books act like it’s the end of an old life and the start of a brand new one. Like you’re being reborn, or something. But it’s supposed to feel like a shock of lightning, like a jolt through your bloodstream when you touch. 

“You just know,” people say. You wonder what they mean. 

You’re returning to the hotel much later than you were hoping, desperate to jump into the shower and wash away the day’s problems. The dinner you were just attending turned into a chatter fest, all of your coworkers and clients alike trying to one-up each other as they downed more and more wine, paid for by your company. It’s a miracle you didn’t stuff the dinner knives into your ears just to drown them out. 

Tipsy on fine wine, cheeks burning and lips stained cherry, you walk into the lobby, rubbing your eyes and desperate for even a wink of sleep. You still have a day more here, which you will spend half exploring and half packing for the trip back home, but the hours always seem to pass by faster when you’re abroad. 

As you walk in, you notice that standing by the front desk are two tall boys, both wearing sunglasses despite it being late at night and despite them being inside. Their clothes are expensive, you can tell from here, having become rather acquainted with luxury brands as of late, crisp leather shoes and silken shirts. 

But when one of them turns around to see who has caused the automatic glass doors to open, you freeze in place. 

Surrounding him is a golden glow, a halo effect, warm yellow making his light pink hair look orange. You watch as he looks at you, up and down, eyes peering over the edge of his sunglasses and lips parted in a round ‘o’, like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. 

Nor can you. 

The man says something to his friend, who looks confused for a moment before nodding, and he comes rushing up to you. 

Instinctively, you reach out a hand. 

When he touches it with his own, it feels as though you’ve been struck by lightning. Like an electric current is running through you, setting your nerves alight, paralyzing you. The man has the same reaction, body shaking as he looks down at your hands, fingertips pressed against each other’s, before gazing back up at you. 

“You,” the man says. You can tell he’s not from around here. Neither are you. 

“Me,” you echo helplessly. What more can you do?

“Jimin,” the man’s friend says, making him turn. He says something about heading up to their hotel room, to which Jimin nods, before turning back to you. 

“I’m Y/N,” you introduce yourself. You suppose that it’s only right to know each other’s names. You are soulmates, after all. “How long are you here for?”

“A week more,” Jimin tells you. “I have… official stuff.”

You wonder what he does. It must be something rather well-paying, seeing as you can make out the Chanel necklace underneath his shirt, tight-fitting black jeans that don’t come from an ordinary mall store. Expensive leather shoes, pointed toes and shiny soles that echo on the marbled hotel floor. 

“You?” Jimin asks. 

“I leave in two days,” you tell him. It’s a shame that it isn’t longer. It’s a shame that you had to meet under these circumstances at all. 

People dream of travelling the world, but meeting your soulmate in a foreign country that neither of you live in isn’t part of that kind of dream. 

“Would you like to grab a drink?” Jimin asks, motioning towards the empty bar. You’re full on wine, but some sparkling water might be nice. 

“So, what do you do?” You ask him, swirling the paper straw around in your glass. “Something, fun, right? If you get to travel to a place like this.”

Jimin coughs, almost like he’s surprised you don’t know. “I’m a singer,” he tells you. Oh, is that it? He must be rather talented, then. “That was my band mate earlier. We’re in a group together.”

“I’ll bet you’re good,” you muse. You’d love to hear him sing. 

“I’m alright,” Jimin says humbly. “What do you do?”

“Nothing nearly as exciting,” you tell him with a sigh. “Office stuff. I’m the international spokesperson for a foreign investment company.” Much less glamorous. 

“Do you travel a lot?” Jimin asks. 

“Always. Several times a month. What about you?”

“I’m on tour a lot. But we live in Korea.”

With every sentence spoken, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the two of you will not be able to go on dates, get to know each other, marry and settle down in a small apartment in a city together. Not like any of your friends. Not like any of his. The curse is not that you have a soulmate, but that your lifestyles are not compatible with one. That being together would ruin you. 

You dream of settling down, but you know that will never happen. 

You dream of a real home, but that has always seemed out of reach. 

When you’re finished at the bar, Jimin somehow manages to find his way to the roof of the building, pulling you up metal stairs leading out to the sky, feet stepping onto the cement ceiling, looking out at the world around you. It’s quaint here, nothing like American cities, which are bustling and loud and modern. Old buildings with smoke coming from the chimneys, like overlooking a town rather than a metropolis. 

“Where are you headed to next?” You ask him. 

“London,” Jimin tells you. “And then Paris, and then Berlin. Then we’re going back to Asia.”

“Do you ever settle down?” You ask. You think you may have finally met someone who travels more than you. 

“Sometimes,” Jimin says with a shrug. “We get a month off here and there. It’s nice, but I like being abroad. I don’t miss home until I’m just about to go back.”

“You must travel a lot then,” you surmise. 

“No more than you do,” he counters. 

“Do you ever want it to all stop?” You ask, partly to him and partly to the sky, the moon and the stars. Wondering if they ever feel the same. 

Jimin pauses, thinking. “I didn’t, before. But now,” he says, turning to you. When his hand dances across the cement floor to rest atop yours, you still feel sparks, electric shocks to remind you of the feeling of lightning racing through your veins. “Now, I sort of do.”

“I wish things were different,” you say. 

“Don’t we all?”

It goes without saying. Neither of you needs to speak it for it to be true. You will never be able to be together. Not like this. 

“Will I ever see you again?” You ask. This is your first and last chance. 

“If you want to, then we will,” Jimin says. It sounds like a promise. He reaches out for the phone sitting on your lap, smiles softly when you let him enter his number. You do the same for him, and he grins. Not many things can tie you down to something, to a place or a person. A contact in a cell phone is the bare minimum. But it’s a start. Jimin knows it, too.

When you’re with him, your heart feels at ease. 

When you’re with him, it’s almost as if you could never leave. 

“Will we?” You ask, skeptical. It’s easier not to get your hopes up, easier to expect the least. 

Jimin nods, certain. “Yes. I know it.”

In two days time, you will leave here, return to your apartment before being sent off to another city, another country. And in two days time, Jimin will stay here, watching as the spark begins to fade between the two of you, as the thunderstorm calms. Is it strange that you wish it was always stormy, now? That you want nothing more than for lightning to strike? Your lives will keep you apart. But perhaps fate will hold you together, just barely. 

You sure hope Jimin’s right. 

↳ links are broken, but don’t forget that i’m still taking commissions!

[watchtheworldargue]

egg magazine, april 1990. interview with Michael Hutchence

transcription below :)

Michael Hutchence on Lower Broadway

By Hal Rubenstein \ Photography by Steven Meisel

Globe-hopping is hell on a wardrobe and hard on the feet. Sometimes you have to get out of the limo to spend your money.

Michael Hutchence rarely comes to New York without luggage monogrammed INXS or Max Q, so one would think that on a visit without portfolio, the last thing he'd want to do is add on more baggage. But given a free day, a book of tickets, and our offer to go anywhere to do anything, Hutchence got into the limo with an agenda we could hardly call a new sensation. What kept us from sulking was that he hadn't left the devil outside.

Michael: You think we can load this car up with Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons, and Armani by 6?

Hal: Driver, step on it. Down to Grand and make a left.

[The car turns onto Union Square West.]

Isn't there a club on the corner here?

The Underground.

That's the one that keeps surviving regardless of how many people get shot there. How many are they up to?

No one's quite sure.

Where are we now? I don't recognise this.

This strip of lower Broadway didn't exist last time you were here. Now it's like a mall-less town's Main Street.

And Tower Records is City Hall. Not bad. It's wild to see this much activity because people around the world now talk about New York in terms of decay, how New York is such a rude place, and we keep telling them, No, New Yorkers are quite friendly, we like it there. New Yorkers are just very honest. They don't have time to bullshit. I like New York because people are linked to each other. L.A. Is fun, but segregated. Here there is a metro, and a different philosophy of getting around so there's rich upon poor upon rich. The only thing I don't remember is how many homeless are asleep on Park Avenue and everywhere else. Or is it my imagination?

No, it's real. How come you choose to live in Hong Kong instead of Australia?

For about three years, I thought it didn't matter where I lived. But I kept passing through it again. I grew up there, from when I was four until twelve. My dad still lives there. It has great energy, like New York. And it's ten hours closer to the world than Australia is. If you travel a lot, it adds up.

[We enter the Yohji Yamamoto store.]

So austere. Do they go wild if you hand back anything wrinkled? Those clothes over there are good acid-house colors. Has acid house caught on here?

Not like in England.

That's 'cause New York has bad radio. Are these dogs always here? They must sleep in the shoes. Ooh, look at these here. Not very me, but very Star Trek. $500 for a T-shirt. I see. I'll buy six. No, twelve. Now, here is something very stagy. Ultraflouncy. I like that, but the general consensus might kill my career.

Is what you wear onstage the same as you wear off?

I sort of smush them all together. My favorite piece of clothing is a leather jacket I had made for me that says “Hutch” in chain mail on the back.

Did Michael Schmidt make it for you?

Yeah – how'd you know? He's great. He sort of looks like a beautiful snake. He loves all the Hollywood stuff, but he's so sincere when he talks about it. Almost makes me like it. Is there somewhere funkier we can go, like Yankel's House of Pile? I saw that on the way down.

If you want old clothes, we should go to Cheap Jack's.

[We head back up to Broadway and 13th Street. Several young ladies on the corner stare at Hutchence as he enters Cheap Jack's.]

Do you enjoy recognition?

Depends on where I am.

Like when you're out on your own. Shopping, for instance.

Shopping, yeah, 'cause I get discounts. And there is a definite bonus to recognition when I'm onstage.

It makes the night go faster. But I'm not an institution yet. Sometimes I think about how hard it must be for someone like Bob Hope to go for a stroll. I don't really get hassled. I can stand in the middle of a street in London, or even New York, and usually nothing happens. I don't think I have that distinctive of a face. I got recognized in Tangier once, going by in a taxi, very fast … from a distance … in a fog … during monsoon season. Just kidding. It's odd how once you are conscious of being watched, you stop being so self-conscious because you realize there's nothing you can do about it. Of course, nobody in Hong Kong gives a shit who I am.

Aren't people there freaking about the city's eventual realignment with China?

Thousands are leaving a year, but they're the ones who can afford to leave, to give Australia half a million to let them in, though a lot more are going to Vancouver or New Zealand instead because they've heard, and it's fairly true, about Australia's racism.

It's actually more like unconscious racism. There's a naivete to it that you might call charming if it wasn't so sick. See, most foreigners don't realize – because we refuse to believe it ourselves – that Australia is southern Asia. Australia is linked to England in everyone's minds.

Yet most Australians don't have the faintest idea why the Japanese tried to invade us during the Second World War, and can't understand why they might not have wanted any foreigners on the biggest island in the Asian paradise. If we had lost, my home would be covered in rice paddies by now. Australia would have been Japan's Great Plains, their grain barrel.

I've never met one Australian who knows that. We have it so easy in Australia. It's very easy to live there. Tougher than it was before, but that's because five years ago it was ridiculous. I used to live in a three-story, five-bedroom house. It cost me $20 a week.

Did you make that much playing music?

Nah, but so what, we were all on the dole. Everyone went on it. That's one of the reasons you have so many bands in Australia. It's cheap to live and collect, so all the bands go on it. You wouldn't even have to go pick up your employment check; they'd mail it to you or transfer it to your account. Ready cash. I guess because there is such an anti-authoritarian vibe in Australia that people are quite happy to accept government checks. “Aw, screw 'em” - that's the attitude. Lots of people accept four and five checks or even have jobs. It's very lax. That's why we're stuck with the tall-poppy syndrome.

Translation?

Don't be successful, don't rise above your mates, or you'll get chopped. It's weird. It's the don't-leave-the-pub way of life. I think people in America are generally happy for someone's good fortune; they know how to let themselves go. In Australia, they go, “Good, mate,” and don't ask a single question. There are no celebrations for a job well done. I'm still shocked at how Americans cheer you on when they like you. I know you don't fancy it anymore, but I like phrases like “dress for success.”

And that's why you're shopping here?

I love hideous ties. Girls love 'em. Dunno why. Its like red socks. Are the playing Richard Hell? I haven't heard this song in 20 years. God, you must hear better music in clothing stores than you do anywhere else in New York. All these baseball jackets are so cheap. You know what they pay for these in Australia? I should buy the whole lot, take them back. I'd never have to tour again. I could get 150 to 200 bucks just for the ratty ones. I think this is the first clothing store I've been in that wasn't playing videos.

Are videos big in Australia?

We've actually been involved in music video a whole lot longer than in America. Because we are so far away, the only way we've had to understand all this music flying around the world is through video. Since the '50s, even when it was only 10 minutes a week, Aussie tv has been showing music videos.

And we don't censor the way you guys do. The “Way of the World” single is a very serious song, but MTV is quite shy of the video, you should note – I say this diplomatically. They censor here for all the wrong reasons. Like it's okay to stare at Cher's crotch for four minutes, but it's hard to say something truthful about the state of the world.

Could it be because with a group that's become as wildly successful as INXS has, it's inevitable that favorable reaction always turns?

I don't think INXS has reached that point yet. Give us four more years. We've only recently become hip in England. At the beginning, they hated our guts.

Why?

'Cause we are Australians writing pop music, why else? They don't make much in England, apart from nice jumpers and Jaguars, and one of the few things they can claim some turf on is pop music. So, they're not happy when someone else does it. It's a standard trait of island people; they're very territorial.

But you guys are island people too.

Yeah, but we got a bigger island. Now, if we can just get rid of some competition from the expatriate colonies.

Isn't it enough already with this rivalry between Australia and England? L.A. And New York have settled their feud.

England still treats Australia like we're descendants of convicts. Well, I guess we are, aren't we? We're trying to get rid of them, but unfortunately, they're coming back with money and buying up half the country. Don't you resent the Japanese buying Rockefeller Center?

I resent the Rockefellers more.

[Having tried on everything and bought nothing, Hutchence decides against old clothes. We head down to If boutique.]

Armand Basi. Nice stuff. That Claude Montana is fabulous, but God, this stuff is expensive. We don't know anyone here for a discount, do we? My father used to design clothes for a shop in Hong Kong called Dynasty. Glitzy evening wear for too much money. One year, when we did our first tour, we bough ta lot of Sprouse, real colorful stuff, and we spent a fortune, especially when you consider it's disposable fashion. All it had to do was last a month. All the buttons fell off, it shrunk, seams opened up. We would have been more upset, but it made us homesick for the mother country. Disposable fashion is very English. The nice thing about it when it comes from there, however, is that even though the stuff falls apart, it's cheap.

Ah, I like this. Very sexy, very smart. Basi, right? I found the best underwear. I think it's called Nikos. Someone gave it to me last night. Well, that's a plug. No names, please. These pants might go with the Basi shirt. [Like Navy pants, they have over a dozen buttons instead of a fly.] Not good clubwear. Certainly not quick enough to please me.

Your choice of underwear would have to be very discreet.

And always clean. Maybe these pants come with a catheter. Should I ask the shopgirl? [He raises his arm to call her and, wincing, puts it down.]

Just realized a colostomy bag wouldn't hurt?

No. I think I have a cracked rib, from too much fun the other night at Inflation, this super club in Melbourne. Melbourne has some of the best clubs in the world. Great people. Amazing clubs. Sydney has nothing. Boring as hell. Nice place if you're a surfer. Really pretty, like L.A. But very corrupt, Sydney. Everyone is always paying everyone off. That's why you can't afford to do a club there. It's like, in order to get a club license, all the other nightclub owners have to agree to your having a license. And four people control the voting on that. Melbourne now has a club called Razor that is so exciting. It used to an automobile club, especially popular during the '50s, where people used to talk about their cars, you know, with photos of Mini-Minors making hairpin turns around corners. Like a racing club, I guess, except for slower cars. Razor gets the best people.

[He picks up a pair of huge, get-lost-in-the-rain-forest-and-survive black shoes and delights.]

Many people have shoe fetishes. I guess it's around the world actually, not just with Imelda. I think people are probably just jealous of her because they secretly wanted so many pair. But these are big, like size big. Are Americans getting larger feet, or do they just want more room? I always notice shoes when I'm here.

There's almost like a $100 tax on shoes in Australia. Like a pair that will cost you $50 here will cost you almost $200 in Australia. A pair of Levi's cost $100. I never buy furniture in Australia, either, and I have an obsession with furniture the way Americans love shoes. It's a shame I don't have an obsession with homes, too, since I have no place to put all the furniture. I have it stored all over the world.

Let me get the Basi shirt, and then I want to buy records. I would get them later, but I just remembered I have a friend coming in tonight for only one night. He and his father are trying to get down to Nicaragua. They're helping Ortega keep the Contras back. Good luck. What's so weird about their going is that these guys are publishing magnates in England. Entrepreneurs. They should be serious Thatcherites, but they just hate Thatcher. Real lefties.

If everyone is so vocal of their dislike of her, how come she's so strong?

The British love her because they love to be miserable; they love to complain. Thatcher's become irrepressible. She's finally showing signs of faltering, except she's winning by default, because no one wants to put Kinnock in, either. It's like your Dan Quayle. What an alternative.

Are Australians political?

It's compulsory to vote, if you want to call that political. Frankly, nobody particularly gives a fuck. That doesn't mean Australians are not aware people. I think they know more about what's going on in the rest of the world than the average American, but that's because they have to compensate for being in the middle of nowhere. They're more concerned about international politics, about the environment. Every time the Americans come into Sydney harbor with their nuclear ships and submarines, there's always 5,000 people telling them to fuck off.

But the hell with domestic politics?

Do you know anything about our system? It's built on a bickering sort of war. The front page is always about politicos throwing shit at each other, spending more time insulting each other than governing.

Mind you, they are really very good at it. It's a fine Australian tradition of political insult. Listening to parliament is hilarious - “Shut up, you bastard!” - and that's our prime minister, Bob Hawke. He's in the Guinness Book of World Records for having drunk a yard of beer in record time. He is actually a brilliant leader, a Rhodes scholar at Oxford, and he has done a bloody good job, considering the apathy he's up against. What he should be real pleased about its restoring pride in being Australian, particularly after all that nonsense when the governor general dismissed Prime Minister Whitlam in 1975.

How was that possible without the consent of the Australian parliament?

We're still a colony. I think a lot of us were cynical after that. They felt like puppets. Probably had something to do with the CIA. The good old CIA. I'm in their files, I found out. That they should waste their time on me. I'm listed as subversive, for my lyrics to “Guns in the Sky” and because I once threw condoms out to the audience in Northern Australia.

How is that subversive?

The more north you get in Australia, the more it is like the South in America. The man who ran Queensland, one of the biggest states in Australia, was this guy, Joh Peterson, who was in power for over 20 years. Peterson was this sort of South African leftover who arrived in Australia, and he made things illegal, like sex education, abortion, condoms to minors – you couldn't have the vending machines in clubs. [You can now.] Well, I slandered him, and so I got taken to court, where he was thrown out of office from the corruption uncovered during the proceedings.

Did that make you a hero down there?

Say what, mate? This is Australia, remember. Our heroes are bushrangers, outlaws, and sporting stars. If you're an athlete, you can get away with anything.

[Hutchence purchases the Basi shirts, and then we head to Tower Records at the corner. A street person approaches us.]

is this the official mugging committee?

Street person: “Ooh, ooh, here they come in their limo, straight from Saks Fifth Avenue. Board of directors, how you doing, moneys, you big-time decision makers. Uh-oh, who's you? You must be a rock man. Stand aside for the rock man.”

They always pick on me.

“I want to give you something, man. Some humility. But there's only enough for one.”

I don't care for some, but humility is something we can spread around.

“Hey man, this is for seriously. You will love this humility. No side effects, no speed. Say yes, and I can be back in an hour.”

[We go through the revolving door and right to the rock section; within three minutes, Max Q is playing on the system.]

That's good, somebody knows it's out.

[Hutchence buys albums by Ciccone Youth, Camper Van Beethoven, Soul II Soul, Grace Jones, Shakespear's Sister, Jesus and Mary Chain, and Suicidal Tendencies. As he is paying for them, he spots a postcard stand that features a picture of him.]

Holy shit. When did they take this thing? What a bizarre likeness. I hardly know this guy. This is not an approved photo. [He gets the attention of a young lady behind the counter.] Excuse me, please, this is not an approved photo. It's a pirate. Do you know where you get these from?

Salesgirl: “No idea.”

Can you find out?

“Why, do you want to buy a lot of them?”

See, I told you no one recognizes me.

[We walk outside and the street person comes up to him again.]

Street person: “I know who you are.”

Who am I?

“You are someone who's gonna give me a lot of money.”

How much you want?

“Just give me one of those bills, thank you. Now I'm officially your biggest fan. Just tell me what you want to buy.”

I must be dressed for success.

[juleswolverton-hyde]

Novel ink (Namjoon x Reader)

Genre: Fluff, romance, Guesthouse AU

Pairing: Guesthouse manager!Namjoon x foreign!Reader

Warnings: No warnings apply

Summary: Each story begins with a word written in ink, noted down with a pen. And in a paradise of them, two souls from different cultures find a deeper meaning to a bond freshly smitten in the Seoul spring.

Author’s Note: I already dropped a teaser to this AU. However, this is merely the beginning.

Masterlist

Every person has their own source of happiness, a little something that can ignite the greatest of joys within at its occurrence. A cup of tea on a rainy day with a book or comic, a meal which might not be good for the body yet tastes too wonderful to simply turn away after a long arduous day, good company to explore an alien city that has only been read about before with and thus enjoy the sensation of continuously discovering new things like the famous explorers of contemporary and olden times. The memories of a beloved during beautiful moments in life even count among the means to personal happiness.

Withal, in some cases, it involves a sense of materialism which goes paired with the creativity that is executed by putting thoughts to paper and thus create worlds for others to enjoy.

Stationary.

Especially when it comes in all sorts of varieties that create endless possibilities to fill the journal that contains the inked manifestations and tangible images of a dreaming mind. So, when in Asia on a holiday and coming across a gigantic shop selling pens, memo pads, stickers and everything in between, it is very likely two precious hours meant for further exploration are as lost as the foreign valuta actually preserved for truly necessary means.

Although, the importance of the scribbling materials is keen to be disputed, likely resulting in the listener walking away due to having prematurely acknowledged fighting the argument they are valuable is futile. Or, mayhaps in the slightest, be convinced themselves of the opinion and share it in the least a bit. It can go either way each time the subject comes up in a conversation.

But on this occasion, it has an unexpected result.

Admitting, the sparked genuine enjoyment of the circumstances is not only triggered this afternoon by the greatest of discoveries but also, as seems to be the case on a daily basis, by the guesthouse manager who offered to show Seoul and leave the establishment in the hands of the co-worker, Hoseok; a handsome man with a tall face, kind brown glistening eyes and a cheerful energetic albeit serious when needed attitude.

However, what Namjoon did not anticipate, was the reaction to what was thought to simply be a regular store in a street wherein a multitude of them focused on beauty and fashion are located, only distinct in the assortment yet nothing special. Though, to be fair, the enthusiasm was once mirrored, as was later casually remarked upon while standing in front of the washi tape section, unable to walk away with merely one set while the blonde man seemed to solely have eyes for the indecisive scribbler and no attention for the assortment of wonderful decoration. The fingers brushing against the palm were noticed but ignored to not give off any false hope, too naively scared it would lead down a road that did not want to be wandered down again. Notwithstanding, the contact felt incredible, awakening an empty part of the soul left slumbering undisturbed at the last heavy farewell it had to endure.

When the contact faded, it was oddly directly missed, the craving for the shy intimacy immediately though not actively sought after.

Another astonishing feat was the energy that bursts forth regardless of the heavy bags filled with KPop albums, merchandise and massive stationary haul tinted with food to try at home with friends and family from the nearest Daiso - another event that could not have been prevented by the tall tanned broad-shouldered guy who has been acting like a person of confidence and almost a sort of guardian since first arriving in the city.

Like a true gentleman, it was offered to carry the most weighty of the three speed-reducing bags, even proposing to take on another after yet another purchase, twenty-two pairs of socks at the cheap price of twenty-thousand won in the underground mall of Myeong-Dong’s tube station. Nevertheless, the concerned smile on full deep pink lips turned into a sincerely amused one after dumping the load of new unseen pieces of clothing in the biggest back and almost falling sideways due to temporarily losing balance, having wrongly estimated the division of the weight.

And that same smile has turned slightly despairing each time it remembers the fact of ever having mentioned ARTBOX to a journal enthusiast in the first place, never having thought it would end like this the moment a wearied traveller from across the globe finally found some rest in the corner of the denim-clad couch while the blonde manager prepared the, initially wrong, room.

Joon has been nothing but an incredible host, allowing to first sleep a bit to catch up on some shut-eye after eleven hours of travelling and maybe only sleeping through two of them on the second flight, which consisted of nine hours of reading with non-seeing fancying eyes, before handling the details of the stay, moved by finding a barely conscious writing hobbyist holding a pen without penning anything down.

The store was brought up during the conversation upon the return from the first-day explorations in Itaewon, sheepishly mentioning the shared room in which luggage was placed and a short nap was taken was the wrong one and quickly helping with transferring everything to a private chamber at once. At the door, the avocation was inquired after and gradually lead to the name ‘’ARTBOX’’ at seeing the, apparently shared, love for noting down thoughts in words and images as the kind well-built walking tree - a lame self-mocking joke that brightened an exhausted expression when properly introducing one another to each other, clearly to the great delight of the joker - remarked how he comes there every once in a while to also get supplies for keeping a diary that lets a busy mind contain a sliver of sanity. 

At seeing the spark of wanton wishing to visit the stationary paradise, the sweet manager shyly proposed to go there together the following day and do some sightseeing within Myeong-Dong, rubbing the back of a caramel neck while doing so. Besides, no guests were set to check in and Hoseok would also be there to manage the place, thus leaving Namjoon with the opportunity to live leisurely for the next twenty-four hours. Not wanting to disappoint the obviously embarrassed man and actually having judged him good company to get to know better, the request was taken up and certainly worth the cheerful smile showing clean snow-white teeth.

That same content grin, albeit in an exhausted though affectionate version, is on those very same maroon lips as gentle dark brown eyes watch the stationary fanatic dart to and fro with a gradually getting quite filled basket. In certain places, the writing traveller hesitantly lingers due to inwardly debating whether or not that pen or the notebook over there should be bought regardless of it being the fourth of a similar kind howbeit in a colour not yet retrieved or with a different style of cover.

An hour has already passed, bags getting heavier by the minute as Joon’s arms grow agitated by the burden, but it does not matter because the concentrated interest in the variety of writing tools is, even obvious from afar, amusing to watch. Furthermore, there is a secret hidden joy each time a personal favourite is picked up, especially after having been vocally low-key advised to do so as the tanned manager stands close enough to give any other curious men enough of an idea that a potential bond of any sort is out of the question. Not that that is necessarily an invalid claim by both parties since, at least for the moment, each other is all which is needed and the attention from outside individual interference is fairly if not wholly unwelcome.

Be that as it may, everything eventually must come to an end and thus the seemingly endless quest in the paradise of memo pads, ink and notebooks results in a paradoxical close after finally paying for the materials, continuing to hold on to the indirect unspoken mutual opinion.

Something we both write about in our connected journals tonight.

[jimmiegoransson-blog]

New Post has been published on http://www.travel.boozted.com/2018/07/03/foreigners-reaction-to-insane-filipino-mall-manila-philippines-vlog-77/

Foreigners reaction to INSANE FILIPINO MALL | Manila, Philippines - Vlog #77

Foreigners reaction to INSANE FILIPINO MALL \ We spent our first day in Manila, Philippines doing some shopping in the huge MALL of ASIA! This might be the biggest Filipino mall we’ve visited thus far, and they had EVERYTHING! We ate there, shopped for clothes, checked out their entertainment hall and even went to the cinema! Great day 🙂

Welcome to our huge travel vlog series on the Philippines. We are looking forward to sharing all our experiences with you! If you haven’t already seen the previous episodes, you should definitely check it our here ▪️ https://bit.ly/2JmepBF ———————————————————————————————————–

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Hello everyone and welcome to our channel 🙂

We are Fridtjov and Julia, a travel couple from Norway and Germany on our very first trip around the world.

Here at JJ’s Journey, we upload daily vlogs to collect our travel memories and share all our ups and downs along the way with you, so that you get an honest insight into how it is to travel together as a couple.

We will also try to provide you with helpful travel tips and recommendations for places to visit 2018 that we pick up together with you on the way.

The truth is, we are just an everyday couple that fell in love with travelling. We do not know yet, what the future holds for us, where we will be in one year and for how long we can afford to travel. For now we are just grateful for every single day we have the opportunity to live the life we always have been dreaming of.

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Unanswered questions leave health officials scrambling to contain coronavirus

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/unanswered-questions-leave-health-officials-scrambling-to-contain-coronavirus/

Unanswered questions leave health officials scrambling to contain coronavirus

Health authorities are scrambling to halt the spread of a new virus that has killed hundreds in China, restricting visitors from the country and confining thousands on cruise ships for extensive screening after some passengers tested positive. But with important details about the illness and how it spreads still unknown, officials and medical personnel are struggling.

Governments have rushed to get their citizens out of China, which is orchestrating history’s largest anti-viral campaign by blocking 50 million people from leaving Wuhan, the center of the outbreak, and nearby areas. A growing number of Chinese cities are discouraging people from even leaving their apartments. Villages have blocked entry points with piles of dirt and rubble, while businesses and offices remain closed indefinitely.

READ MORE: B.C. confirms second case of novel coronavirus in resident with family visiting from Wuhan

As Beijing’s authoritarian leadership faces questions over having kept its citizens in the dark for weeks before infections started to explode, other countries are trying to set up effective quarantines to stop a possible pandemic.

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Those efforts have not always been smooth, with violent protests near quarantine centers, banishment to remote islands, and some citizens allowed to leave quarantine early.

A look at the world’s sometimes-wobbly efforts to stop the crisis:

South Korea

South Korea has confirmed 18 cases of infection with the new type of coronavirus and there are fears of a broader local spread.

The country has banned entry to all foreigners who traveled to China’s Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, after Jan. 21. The government says it will consider stopping South Korean tourist visits to China if the outbreak worsens.

Officials have acknowledged missteps in monitoring visitors from China and in tracing the contacts of those infected.

1:52 Second case of novel coronavirus in B.C.

Second case of novel coronavirus in B.C.

Anxiety abounds. Movie theaters, shopping malls and restaurants have closed. A large church in Seoul skipped Sunday services because a virus patient had attended earlier. Parents have kept schoolchildren at home. Stores are running out of face masks and hand sanitizers.

Residents of central South Korea threw eggs and other objects at government officials over plans to quarantine about 700 evacuees from Wuhan at government facilities in their neighborhoods.

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Australia

Australia has been criticized over its decision to quarantine about 300 Wuhan evacuees on a remote island used in the past to banish asylum seekers and convicts.

Critics say a quarantine center on the Australian mainland would be preferable to Christmas Island. Some inhabitants of the island say the government is turning their home into a “leper colony.”

The government argues that the location strikes a balance between supporting Australians stranded in China and protecting the wider Australian population from the disease.

READ MORE: Canadians prepare for evacuation from China amid coronavirus concerns — ‘It’ll be nice to go home’

People on the Australian mainland who might have caught the virus are not placed in quarantine, but are advised to self-isolate for 14 days, which scientists say is the longest incubation period of the virus. The 13 confirmed cases are being treated in hospitals.

Starting this month, Australia has banned foreigners without permanent residency from entering the country if they had visited mainland China in the previous 14 days. China’s national women’s soccer team has been quarantined at a Brisbane hotel since arriving last week.

2:03 Novel coronavirus: Travel bans, quarantines rise amid global outbreak

Novel coronavirus: Travel bans, quarantines rise amid global outbreak

Japan

Japan, which has reported 33 cases, stepped up quarantine measures after officials were criticized last week for allowing two evacuees from Wuhan to leave early from a hotel where they had been quarantined.

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Officials say 518 evacuees have been placed under a 14-day quarantine at a hotel and three government facilities near Tokyo. Those with symptoms have been treated in isolation rooms at hospitals.

On Tuesday, the government confirmed at least 10 cases on a cruise ship and are quarantining its 3,700 crew and passengers on board.

READ MORE: Coronavirus death toll rises to 490 in China as Japan confirms 10 cases on cruise ship

Starting Saturday, Japan banned the entry of foreigners who have visited Hubei province in the previous 14 days.

Social media is overflowing with comments calling for a ban on all visitors from China.

“I’m afraid Japan will be soon criticized for taking less measures than other countries,” said Mitsunori Okamoto, an opposition lawmaker.

4:15 Novel coronavirus: Canadian citizens stuck in China set to leave in hours

Novel coronavirus: Canadian citizens stuck in China set to leave in hours

North Korea

North Korea has yet to report a case, but it’s still pushing a tough campaign to prevent the spread of the virus, which state media have called a matter of “national existence.”

The country has blocked tourists, reduced flights and strengthened screening at borders, harbors and airports. State media say 30,000 health workers have been mobilized across the country for preventive measures.

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Rival South Korea last week withdrew dozens of officials from an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong after North Korea insisted on closing it until the epidemic is controlled.

Because fighting the virus is crucial “for defending the security of the country and the life and safety of people, all the workers in the anti-epidemic field set up rapid reaction teams … so as to promptly counter any slightest situation,” Pyongyang’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.

READ MORE: 5 things more likely to kill you in Canada than coronavirus

United States

March Air Reserve Base in California’s Riverside County is near capacity after housing 195 people flown in from Wuhan who are now under a federal quarantine.

“We’re pretty much full at this point,” said Maj. Perry Covington, a spokesman at the base.

None of the evacuees at the base has shown signs of the illness.

2:11 Toronto hospital built with SARS in mind

Toronto hospital built with SARS in mind

Tents were set up over the weekend to assist in screening passengers in case other U.S.-bound flights from Wuhan are diverted to the base due to weather or other reasons.

Latin America

Mexico says 10 citizens who were flown from China to France on Saturday are in good health. The government hasn’t restricted travel to Wuhan but advises against nonessential trips.

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Venezuela has started to monitor incoming passengers for symptoms at its largest airport near the capital, Caracas, and plans to expand screening to other airports.

Argentina hasn’t placed restrictions on visitors from China. But two hospitals in Buenos Aires and Ezeiza have been designated for possible isolation and treatment of patients.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Did Ottawa wait too long to evacuate Canadians? Health experts say no

Hong Kong, Southeast Asia

Hong Kong said Wednesday more than 3,600 people on board a cruise ship that was turned away from a Taiwanese port will be quarantined until health checks are completed. The ship was refused entry at Kaohsiung port after three passengers on an earlier voyage later tested positive for the virus.

An AirAsia plane carrying 107 Malaysians and their non-Malaysian spouses and children from Wuhan arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. They will be quarantined for two weeks.

Indonesia moved 240 evacuees on Sunday from Wuhan to the remote island of Natuna, where they will be quarantined. Health workers in protective gear sprayed the evacuees with disinfectant as they stepped off their jet.

2:39 WHO calls for improved data-sharing on coronavirus, to send experts to China

WHO calls for improved data-sharing on coronavirus, to send experts to China

Thailand on Tuesday night admitted 138 people just flown in from Wuhan to its first dedicated quarantine facility, inside a Navy compound in the east of the country.

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Evacuees were screened in a six-hour process at the airport in Wuhan before boarding with none showing definitive signs of the virus. They landed at U-Tapao airport and were taken to the Sattahip Navy Lodge, which normally serves as a guest house. They will be kept there two to a room for 14 days, with family members allowed to visit them if they are still not showing symptoms after three days’ stay.

Quarantining of confirmed cases was already being done at various hospitals and around the capital, Bangkok.

READ MORE: Could the new coronavirus go from epidemic to pandemic? Here’s what that means

Europe

Britain has quarantined dozens of people evacuated from China at Arrowe Park Hospital in northwest England. One evacuee has been isolated at a separate hospital for further tests.

“It’s quite weird being home but not being home, and also being sort of locked in, almost like being back in Wuhan really,” Kharn Lambert, a teacher who worked in Wuhan, told Sky News about being isolated at Arrowe Park.

France used two flights to bring back about 400 people from China. They are being quarantined at two different sites in southern France. Italy and Spain have quarantined dozens of evacuees at military facilities.

Africa

Quarantine measures are a serious concern in Africa, where health systems on the 54-country continent vary dramatically. John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there could be undetected infections on the continent.

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A plane carrying 167 Moroccan passengers, mostly students, arrived Sunday near Casablanca. They will be quarantined for 20 days in two hospitals in Rabat and Meknes.

2:32 Incoming passengers will continue to be screened, quarantined for coronavirus: Health Minister

Incoming passengers will continue to be screened, quarantined for coronavirus: Health Minister

In Lagos in Nigeria, authorities asked people arriving from China or other affected countries to practice “unsupervised self-quarantine,” which means staying home, minimizing contact with family members and monitoring for symptoms.

The Chinese embassy in Kenya says it required Chinese companies to quarantine employees returning to the East African country from China for two weeks, symptoms or no.

South Sudan, with one of the world’s most fragile health systems following a five-year civil war, recently celebrated the installment of a single thermal scanner at the arrival area of its airport in its capital, Juba.

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[warmheartworldwide]

A Big Change of Scenery

The following blog comes from Mélissa Chauve who just spent the summer at Warm Heart with her partner Stéphane whose blog post about the inception and continuation of the smokehouse project appears just before this one:

Before leaving on our gap year around the world, I was a production manager in the praliné industry, a popular European confection using almonds and hazelnuts. So coming from a pristine French factory to work outdoors on smoking meat was a big change of scenery, to say the least, and I was really excited by the challenge and new environment. 

Stéphane has already written about how the project came about during his first trip to Warm Heart in 2014 and what we did when we first got back to repair and improve the smokehouse. He also wrote about the tests we ran with different variables for the best curing and smoking process.

Smoked meat ready for tasting 

Once we were satisfied with our smoked meat samples, the next step was to introduce the product to see the reactions to different recipes and how best to develop a potential market in Thailand. First we organized a tasting with Warm Heart staff and foreign volunteers. The tasters were mostly Thai (72%) with the foreigners from the US and Europe. We made three different batches: a basic recipe without any additional condiments; one with onion and garlic; one with chili. The tasters were asked to rank the different recipes on a scale of 1 to 5.

Before handing out the smoked meat, we first made a slide show presentation to introduce the project and the smoking process. In addition to ranking the three recipes, tasters were also asked to evaluate the products according to several factors: look, taste, smell, saltiness and degree to which they would be likely to purchase the product.

First tasting with Warm Heart staff and volunteers

There was a marked difference in the tasting results for the two groups. The Western volunteers enjoyed the smoked meat which is similar to smoked bacon or ham. For the Thais, it was a new taste. Thus the foreigners on the whole liked the product more than the Thais. The foreigners said that they would be willing to buy it (4.2 out of 5) while the Thais were more ambivalent (3 out of 5).  

There was also a difference in taste reactions based on cultural affinity. The foreigners preferred the basic recipe – 100% ranked it highest – while 60% of the Thais liked the one with chili best. This makes sense since so much of Thai food is spicy. So although overall the basic recipe was ranked highest with 57% of the tasters, the one with chili also ranked fairly high with 43% of tasters giving it the best rating.

Therefore, for selling, we initially concluded that it is worthwhile to make smoked meat with both recipes and target two different markets: Thai people in the local markets and foreigners in tourist markets such as the weekend night markets in Chiang Mai. But we chose to further our study of the potential Thai market and hold off on the foreigner market for the time being. First of all, we need to promote the product locally in Phrao. The hill tribe villagers won’t get involved in producing smoked meat until they are convinced there is a reasonable potential market. More importantly, sales to foreigners and the supermarket chains which cater to the expat community and higher-end Thai consumers will require quality and hygiene standards which we cannot provide at this time.

Thus we organized a second tasting with the Warm Heart children. They were so excited to both taste this new product and to fill in their survey with emoticons: L, K, J. We were just as excited when we analyzed the results and discovered that 50% of the kids rated the smoked meat as “quite good” with another 41% saying it was “good”. We then resolved to keep the market study going by involving more people.

Warm Heart kids in line for their tasting

We then asked six Warm Heart children between the ages of seven to eleven to test sell the smoked meat. Each child had a bag of smoked meat samples to give to their friends at school to taste. If the friends liked the meat and wanted to buy, each child also had five packets for selling, three packets weighing 40g each for 10 baht and two packets with 20g each for 5 baht.

Once again, the tasting results were quite promising. 59% of the children who tasted the smoked meat qualified the product as “quite good” and 22% qualified it as “good”. Concerning the sales, bear in mind that the children weren’t experienced sellers. One child sold all five of his packets while the others sold a few. In total, 11 out of the 30 packets were sold which demonstrates that it is clearly possible to sell the product. We were also so proud of the children who really “did the job”!

Warm Heart kids eagerly waiting to get their sample packets

Our final tasting survey was conducted during a Young Smart Farmer event held at the busy upmarket Central Festival Mall in Chiang Mai. Our smoked meat was tried by 45 people, 84% Thai and the rest foreigners who were once again asked to rate the product on a scale of 1 to 5 for different factors. The overall scores, just as with the Warm Heart tasting, were quite high with generally the foreigners scoring the product higher than the Thais.

Our stand at Young Smart Farmer event in Central Festival Mall in Chiang Mai

Results of Chiang Mai tasting

Encouraged by these overall results, we then held a meeting to discuss the long-term aims of the project with Sripan, Warm Heart’s housemother, and some of the other women staff members who come from the Karen and Akha hill tribes.  Our explanations had to be translated first from English to the Lanna Thai spoken in northern Thailand and then sometimes to Karen and Akha. It was laborious but somehow we managed to communicate everything. Like so many of Warm Heart’s ideas, things have to be tried out first at Warm Heart before other local residents can be convinced to sign on. By the end of the meeting, the women had agreed to learn how to smoke and keep the project going after we leave. To ensure that things are done properly, for our last activity at Warm Heart we organized a training day to thoroughly explain the curing and smoking processes and recipes. On that day we managed to explain everything by doing and didn’t use a translator but we will also leave a written document with guidelines and video.

Training day with Warm Heart staff

I’m French so I can’t say goodbye to Warm Heart without talking about Thai food. This was my first time to Asia and I wasn’t expecting to discover the delicious Thai cuisine. Sure there is always rice and chili in every meal, but there is a wide array of other spices and vegetables. I can’t say what my favorite dish is because I liked everything (except the curry when it’s too hot.) I loved lemongrass which I had never tasted before. I spent all my free time looking for new restaurants so that I could try new dishes. Last but not least, I want to thank Sripan for cooking for us and for enjoying our culinary discoveries together.

[vsplusonline]

Coronavirus fears trigger anti-China sentiment across the globe

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/coronavirus-fears-trigger-anti-china-sentiment-across-the-globe/

Coronavirus fears trigger anti-China sentiment across the globe

A scary new virus from China has spread around the world. So has rising anti-Chinese sentiment, calls for a full travel ban on Chinese visitors and indignities for Chinese and other Asians.

Restaurants in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Vietnam have refused to accept Chinese customers. Indonesians marched near a hotel and called on Chinese guests there to leave. French and Australian newspapers face criticism for racist headlines. Chinese and other Asians in Europe, the United States, Asia and the Pacific complain of racism.

Two dozen countries outside of China have reported cases of the new coronavirus, which has killed more than 300 people and sickened thousands of others in China. Many countries have sent planes to the Chinese city of Wuhan to evacuate their nationals.

READ MORE: First coronavirus death outside of China reported in Philippines, health authorities say

The anti-China sentiments come as a powerful Beijing bolsters its global influence, and China’s rise has caused trade, political and diplomatic disputes with many countries.

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But with rising fear of the mysterious disease has come a more acute anti-Chinese and, in some cases, anti-Asian backlash.

Here’s a look from AP journalists from around the world:

South Korea

South Korean websites have been flooded with comments calling on the government to block or expel Chinese and racist remarks about Chinese eating habits and hygiene. A popular Seoul seafood restaurant frequented by Chinese tourists posted a sign saying “No entry for Chinese” before taking it down Wednesday after an online backlash.

1:36 Coronavirus outbreak: German officials say 1 person from emergency plane being tested

Coronavirus outbreak: German officials say 1 person from emergency plane being tested

More than 650,000 South Koreans have signed an online petition filed with the presidential Blue House calling for a temporary ban on Chinese visitors. Some conservative opposition lawmakers publicly back these steps, and about 30 people rallied near the Blue House on Wednesday demanding the government immediately ban Chinese tourists.

“Unconditional xenophobia against the Chinese is intensifying” in South Korea, the mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial Thursday. “Infectious diseases are a matter of science, not an issue that can be resolved through an emotional outpouring.”

READ MORE: Coronavirus travel barriers, business closures can harm the world economy, experts say

The United States

After news broke that someone attending Arizona State University has the virus, Ari Deng, who is Chinese American, said she sat down at a study table on the Tempe, Arizona, campus near five other students.

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Deng, who was the only Asian, said the other students began whispering. “They got really tense and they quickly gathered their stuff and just left at the same time.”

In a recent business class a non-Asian student “said ‘Not to be racist, but there’s a lot of international students that live in my apartment complex. I try my best to keep my distance but I think it’s a good precaution for all of us to wash our hands,’” Deng said.

3:14 Coronavirus outbreak: New York health commissioner says 1st patient stable, ‘doing well’

Coronavirus outbreak: New York health commissioner says 1st patient stable, ‘doing well’

“It stings but I don’t let it take up room in my mind or weigh on my conscience,” she said.

Meanwhile, the University of California, Berkeley’s health services center removed an Instagram post Thursday that said “fears about interacting with those who might be from Asia and guilt about these feelings” were a normal reaction to the coronavirus outbreak.

“No matter how much time we spend in this country, at times we are almost immediately viewed as a foreigner,” Gregg Orton, the national director of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, said. “It’s a pretty frustrating reality for many of us.”

Canada

Speaking at a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration in Toronto on Saturday, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for unity.

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“We need to support each other and stay united,” he said.

2:13 Brazil marks Chinese Lunar New Year amid fears of coronavirus epidemic

Brazil marks Chinese Lunar New Year amid fears of coronavirus epidemic

“Let me be clear, there is no place in our country for discrimination driven by fear or misinformation. This is not something Canadians will ever stand for.”

READ MORE: Coronavirus — Europe prepares quarantines as countries begin to fly citizens back home

Hong Kong

The virus has deepened anti-Chinese sentiment in Hong Kong, where months of street protests against Beijing’s influence have roiled the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

Last week, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam suspended ferry and high-speed train services to the mainland and reduced flights between Hong Kong and Chinese cities.

Tenno Ramen, a Japanese noodle restaurant in Hong Kong, is refusing to serve mainland customers.

“We want to live longer. We want to safeguard local customers. Please excuse us,” the restaurant said on Facebook.

1:21 Coronavirus outbreak: Germans evacuated from Wuhan, China arrive in Frankfurt

Coronavirus outbreak: Germans evacuated from Wuhan, China arrive in Frankfurt

Europe

A French teacher started a Twitter conversation recently under #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus (I am not a virus) that has drawn numerous accounts of discrimination, from children taunted in the schoolyard to subway passengers moving away from people who appear Asian.

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France has a significant and growing Asian community, and Chinese visitors are a pillar of the French tourism industry, but old prejudices run deep. A regional newspaper in northern France carried a front-page headline warning of a “Yellow Alert,” and later apologized amid national criticism.

“It’s a virus that comes from a region in China. It could have come from North Africa, Europe or anywhere,” said Soc Lam, a legal adviser to Chinese community groups in Paris. “People should not consider that just because we are Asian, we are more likely to spread the virus.”

READ MORE: WHO warns countries to prepare as coronavirus death toll rises to 304

A Danish paper, Jyllands-Posten, published a cartoon that replaced the yellow stars of the Chinese flag with representations of the virus. The Chinese Embassy in Copenhagen called the cartoon “an insult to China” and demanded the newspaper apologize.

The German Der Spiegel magazine ran a headline that said “made in China” along with a photo of an individual in protective gear.

On Friday, a cafe near Rome’s Trevi Fountain, a popular tourist site, posted a notice in its window saying “all people coming from China are not allowed access in this place,” according to the Italian news agency ANSA. When AP journalists went there to check on it, the post was no longer in the window.

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2:43 British university confirms student is one of two U.K. coronavirus cases

British university confirms student is one of two U.K. coronavirus cases

Australia, New Zealand

More than 51,000 signatures have appeared on an online petition demanding apologies from Australia’s two biggest-circulation newspapers over their headlines.

The petition condemned Melbourne’s Herald Sun headline Wednesday that read, “Chinese virus pandamonium,” a misspelling that plays on China’s native pandas, and Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph headline on the same day that read, “China kids stay home.”

Singaporean Kiwi Dollice Chua told the New Zealand Herald that when she went to an Auckland mall last week to buy a wedding card a woman gave her a dirty look and told her “You Asians are the ones who brought this virus.” Chua has lived in New Zealand for 21 years. “It’s racist and beyond rude,” she said.

Japan

2:07 Fear and misinformation about the coronavirus are spreading faster than the virus itself

Fear and misinformation about the coronavirus are spreading faster than the virus itself

Many Japanese have taken to social media to call for a travel ban for the Chinese visitors amid worries they’ll come to Japan for virus-related treatments. One tweet said, “Please ban Chinese tourists immediately,” while another said, “I’m so worried that my child may catch the virus.”

A candy store in Hakone, a hot springs town west of Tokyo, recently made headlines after it posted a note saying, “Chinese people’s entry into the store is prohibited.” On Wednesday, Menya Hareruya, a popular ramen chain in Sapporo on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, posted a sign saying “No entry for Chinese tourists.”

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READ MORE: Rattled by coronavirus, Chinese communities cancel Lunar New Year plans

Zhang Jiaqi, a Chinese student in Tokyo, said he has not faced any unpleasant response from his Japanese classmates and friends, but, he added, “I noticed that some people have turned around or watched me with angry looks on their face when I was talking to my friends in Chinese.”

Southeast Asia

Last weekend, several hundred residents in the Indonesian tourist city of Bukittinggi marched to the Novotel Hotel, where some 170 Chinese tourists were staying, to protest their entrance into Indonesia.

They blocked roads near the hotel to prevent the Chinese, who’d arrived a day earlier, from getting out of the hotel. Local authorities decided to send the visitors back to China later in the day.

More than 400,000 Malaysians have signed an online petition calling for a ban on Chinese travelers and urging the government to “save our family and our children.”

1:46 International precautions ramp up as coronavirus death toll jumps

International precautions ramp up as coronavirus death toll jumps

A hotel in Danang, Vietnam, a popular beach destination, has been refusing to accept Chinese tourists.

A former police officer and town mayor, Abner Afuang, said he burned a Chinese flag on Friday in front of the National Press Club in Manila to protest the problems China has brought to the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, including the virus and Beijing’s claim to disputed islands in the South China Sea.

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The Philippine president’s office said in a statement: “Let us not engage in discriminatory behavior, nor act with any bias towards our fellowmen. The reality is everyone is susceptible to the virus.”

© 2020 The Canadian Press

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