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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric who wrote (1465587)	7/1/2024 11:55:23 AM
From: Bill	Respond to of 1573950

Eric, thanks for that note. I guess I missed the post about his plans.

To: Eric who wrote (1465587)	7/1/2024 3:04:42 PM
From: Tenchusatsu	1 Recommendation Recommended By Bill Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1573950

Eric, a few things I noticed during my trip to Korea: - Gas is cheaper there than here in California. That's interesting given how Korea imports 100% of its oil. - I saw an anti-vax protest while riding through Seoul. That's also interesting given how Koreans are generally in favor of masks and vaccines. Everywhere I went, I saw people wearing masks in public, even outdoors. (It wasn't an air quality thing, either, since the air was just fine while I was there.) - I rode Korea's high-speed train for the first time, known as the KTX. Nice train, got us from Seoul to Busan in less than two hours. Normally that trip would take us four hours by regular train, or 5-6 hours by car thanks to traffic. KTX, by the way, was celebrating its 20th anniversary. Makes me wonder again why California can't even build a high-speed rail of its own. - Korea is experiencing a birth rate crisis, but I sure didn't see it. Children were everywhere. I also took a quick trip to Tokyo. - Exchange rate between USD and Japanese yen is VERY favorable these days, like 161 yen to the dollar. Used to be around 100 yen to the dollar. Great time to be a tourist. - Again, gas is cheaper in Tokyo than in California. That's very interesting given that Japan also imports close to 100% of its oil. Given the weak yen, I would have expected gas to be quite expensive. - The Shinkansen, a.k.a. Japan's bullet train (I guess "bullet" is politically incorrect nowadays), is still the best high-speed train I've ever rode in. So nice. - However, for some reason Japan's taxi fares are sky-high. Over $200 to take a taxi from Narita to Tokyo's Shinjuku district? Freakin' crazy. Two more things: - It was nice to walk around major cities (Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Tokyo) that don't suffer from high crime, homelessness, and blight. Such a breath of fresh air compared to the shitshow that is San Francisco. - I took Air Premia, Korea's newest airline, from San Francisco to Seoul and back. Their Economy Plus is better than United Airlines' domestic first class. (And yes, it's an Asian airliner, so their flight attendants are chopstick-thin and pretty, unlike the "body-positive" flight attendants working for United.) Tenchusatsu