7/27/2019 James Bond Moment

1/1

TODAYS SUDOKU SOLUTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

T H E G L O B E A N D M A I L T U ES D AY , M A RC H 2 6 , 2 0 13 S L5GLOBE LIFE & ARTS

The topdiet tipsfor runners

Whats in adiet? For run-ners, it couldmean betterrace times.Watch dietitianLeslie Beckgive her

top tips forrunners intraining.tgam.ca/health

ONLINE

Sometimes things dont go asplanned and those momentsoften make for the best stories.Tripping columns offer readers achance to share their wild adven-tures from the road.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The distance between Hue, Vi-etnams pre-communist cap-ital, and Savannakhet, a sleepyLao city by the Mekong River, isover 400 kilometres of thicktropical forest. The border check-point, somewhere in-between,lies truly in the middle of no-

where. Four hours got us this far,and it would be longer untilSavannakhet: five hours by bus,and unimaginably longer if thebus, say, left without us.

Which, of course, it did.Id asked my girlfriend to wait

where it had parked, and joggedup to the bank to exchange ourVietnamese money for Lao kip. I

was figuring out how best tomime commission rate to theEnglish-impaired teller when aDutch guy, whod been sittingbehind us on the bus, openedthe door and nervouslyannounced: Um, our bus isleaving.

I looked out the window andsaw two things: first, my girl-friend, looking incredulous bythe empty parking space, mouthopen and arms outstretched; sec-ond, our big grey bus, leisurelyrolling away from her.

I quickly shoved the Vietnam-ese money back into my walletand rushed outside with theDutchman. We screamed and ranhopelessly for maybe 10 secondsbefore, almost out of nowhere, adozen motorcyclists pulled upahead of us, waving us down:Ride?

Didnt need to think twice.Ride, ride! I yelled, leapingonto the closest bike. My righthand instinctively clutched thedrivers scrawny torso as we spedoff; my left pointed wildly: Bus!Bus!

So now we found ourselves inthis high-speed chase me, mygirlfriend and the Dutchman

whose name I never learned

on three separate bikes, racingdown this dusty mountain road.A canvas-covered shipment truckdrove ahead of us, and when weovertook it, I glimpsed the edgeof the cliff a few metres away.Beyond that, the whole Laomountain range spread out intothe horizon; everything washigh-noon bright, but hazy, too,because of the mountain fog.The wind blew my hair hard butI turned into it, squinting ahead,honing in on our target.

In that moment, I felt exactlylike James Bond.

We cut the bend to catch up,when suddenly there it is! Itsslowing down! I assumed thebus driver saw us, because hebegan pulling over into a plot ofdirt in front of a wooden bunga-low. Mission accomplished.

As we hopped off the bikes, werealized the bungalow was, infact, a restaurant, situated only afew hundred metres from theborder, where everyone on thebus stepped off, relaxed, and atelunch for the next 30 minutes.

Oh.We paid our drivers a dollar

each, and I stopped to wonder ifthe whole thing was just a bigset-up to catch slow foreigners.But then, I considered: one dol-lar is roughly what Id pay to ridea roller coaster, which is no-

where near as thrilling as those10 seconds of being James Bond.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Special to The Globe and Mail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Share your 500-word traveladventure with us. Please send itto travel@globeandmail.com.

TRIPPING

My James Bond momentDid my bus just leave? I leap onto a motorbike and give chase down the mountain roads of Vietnam

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MICHAEL FRAIMAN VIETNAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We were too close the cliffs edge but closing in on our target: 007 couldnt have done it any better. THINKSTOCK

TODAYS KENKEN SOLUTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Travellers who are rude tohotel staff may get more thanthey bargain for and in surpris-ing ways, depending on what con-tinent they are visiting.

A new study found a divergencein how hotel staff in North Ameri-

ca and China react to abusive cus-tomers. In North America,chambermaids, front-desk clerksand concierges are 20 per centmore likely to retaliate quicklyand directly to the offensive guestby denying good service. Theymight make the guest wait, servethem cold food or give them

wrong directions, for instance.Hotel staff in China, however,

are 19 per cent more likely tobecome less enthusiastic towardtheir jobs altogether. They retali-ate less against the offendingguest. Instead, they blame the sys-tem and the job itself.

In China, they are very collec-tivist. And sure enough, what we

found is that they tend to cut backon service to all customers in gen-eral. They just simply disengagefrom customers. Its very passive,its indirect. Its not surgical [re-taliation] like it is in North Ameri-ca, said Daniel Skarlicki, abusiness professor at the Univer-sity of British Columbia, who co-authored the study with RuodanShao at the City University ofHong Kong.

The researchers surveyed 200employees at two luxury hotels inVancouver and Beijing owned bythe same chain; both have similarbusiness guests and well-heeledclientele. Staff participating in thesurvey were asked to report the

number of abusive experiencesthey experienced. This could in-

clude anything from being yelledat and having guests make unrea-sonable requests to inappropriatebody language.

The survey then recorded thefrequency in which staff sabo-taged service because of thattreatment, and how they felt

about their jobs in general. Theresearchers also tried to factor in

job security: Vancouver has aslightly higher level of unemploy-ment compared with Beijing, soChinese attitudes arent necessa-rily due to feeling trapped in a

job, Skarlicki said.He draws two key conclusions

from the study: Mistreatmentdoesnt come without conse-quences, and hotel employersshould take care in training theirstaff on separate continents.

It could be as much as justhelping employees understandthat, Look, heres the bad part ofthe job, and heres some proac-tive ways of how to deal with cus-

tomers that are mistreatingyou, Skarlicki said.

HOTELS

One way or another, youll payfor your rude attitude: study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

GUY DIXON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Treat hotel staff politely, or youllregret it. ISTOCKPHOTO

Whether youre slurpingnoodles in Tokyo or nosh-ing on sushi at Heathrow air-port, Integrals CompactChopsticks are a novel way toB.Y.O.U. (bring your own uten-sils).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

How it works

Each collapsible chopstickcomes in two parts. Pull (donttwist) the coloured plastic tip.Out comes a pointy wand-likeend that when flipped and re-inserted into its stainless steelbase, forms a full-sized chop-stick. The clip that holds theunassembled set together dou-bles as a chopstick rest. Minekept rolling off, so I opted notto use it.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pros and cons

Waiters and fellow restaurantpatrons looked on suspiciouslyas I pulled out them out, butthat shouldnt be a deterrent.They are light (mine have a per-manent place in my purse), eco-friendly and much prettier thanthe spork I used to carry as abackpacking university student.If youre a clean freak, givethem a good rinse and drybefore putting them away; oth-erwise expect to face the linger-ing odour of your last plate ofpad Thai.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Final verdict

Theyre a fun way to eat foreignfoods while travelling or diningout in your own city just beprepared to be the odd manout at the table. $14 (U.S.);fab.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mercedeh SanatiSpecial to The Globe and Mail

GEAR GLOBE TESTED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We screamed and ran

hopelessly for maybe 10seconds before, almost out of

nowhere, a dozen

motorcyclists pulled up ahead

of us, waving us down: Ride?

Didnt need to think twice.

AzAmazing LuxuryCruise Sale!

World s Best Award- Travel & Leisure Magazine

Best Overall & Best ValueCruise Critic Cruisers

Choice Awards

GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICE

Fares are CAD, per person, based on twin sharing. *Reduced Air is from Vancouver. Low cost add-on air available for othergateways.Governmenttaxes& feesareextra.**AzAmazingEveningsdoesnot includeOrient/Asiasailing.CruiseLinereservesthe right to charge a fuel supplement without prior notice, including on fully paid bookings. Cruise Connections reserves the

right to correct errors and omissions. All rates & sailings subject to change & availability at time of booking. BPCPA #28364.

Transatlantic 13 NTS with AIR* from $2,671CADSeville to Miami,visiting GuadalquivirRiver,Santa CruzDe Tenerife,Tenerife,Hamilton

Mediterranean 14 NTS with AIR* from $3,462CADAthensto Dubai,visitingRhodes,Limassol,Transitthe SuezCanal, Muscat

Orient / Asia 14 NTS with AIR* from $3,431CADHong Kong toSingapore,visiting HalongBay, DaNang,Ho ChiMinhCity,Bangkok

Black Sea 11 NTS with AIR* from $3,493CADMonteCarlo to Barcelona,visiting Cannes, PortoVenere,Florence/Pisa(Livorno),Rome, Calvi,Palamos

Holy Land 11 NTS with AIR* from $4,013CADRometo Athens,visitingSorrento, Catania,Valletta,Jerusalem,Haifa

FROM $205/DAY!

Reduced Airfare*

FREE Prepaid GratuitiesFREE Wine, Beer and Spirits

FREE AzAmazing Evenings Excursions**

Late + Overnight Stays and More

CALL US TODAY FOR OTHER OFFERS!

VISIT WWW.CRUISE-CONNECTIONS.COM FOR DETAILS

WERE GIVING AWAY20 FREE CRUISES FOR 2!

1-866-634-WAVE

CELEBRATE OUR 20TH WITH US!