Saudi Arabia... et al
The Gulf area...interesting  place. I was fortunate enought to fly into Bahrain, spend a few days then drive out to Dahran and then fly into Riyadh. I was sent as a liason to the Royal Saudi Air Force for data links. One of the nicer perks of my job. The restaurant we ate in every day was blown up by terrorists not long after we left Riyadh. I can do without that. This incident does not typify Saudi Arabia. The country is quite beautiful and peaceful. The cities are modern, clean and well kept and most foreigners stay in compounds specifically built for westerners. Here they can enjoy certain amenities not usually allowed by the host government. This is true throughout parts of the middle east so it's a good idea to check the embassies before visiting.

  We  also visited Jebel-Ali in UAE and Dubai where you can get great deals on gold jewelry and a variety of of items. Persian style rugs are a good bargain and I recommend taking "Haggling 101" before coming here. You might want to look into the social aspects of the middle east also, certain common hand gestures can land you in more trouble than you can imagine. This is true no matter where you go, not just here. Last word..this is not exactly a tropical paradise but it is damn interesting and I'm going back someday.
Singapore
Pick up a brochure or check out one of my links to this city, everyhing you see and read is true. Absolutely beautiful city. Singapore is extremely well structured and has a great subway and public transportation system. You won't find any graffiti, chewing gum (it's illegal), panhandlers etc. They have a super interactive zoo with various species of monkeys and birds climbing all over you. If you have food on you they'll find it. Outstanding shops and restaurants everywhere. Go there!

  The food can't be beat. We ate mostly in outdoor foodcourts sampling every type of shrimp dish and seafood imaginable. Some of the dishes can be a little on the spicey side but that's what makes them good. We also ate some fruits that I've never seen or heard of before. You feel like a kid locked in a candy store with the variety available. Prices on everything were reasonable, especially trinkets and souvenir stuff.

  True story...They hung a woman for drug smuggling in the town square while we were there. Public hanging for drug smugglers, sort of tell you something about their laws doesn't it. In another un-named country there was a public beheading for a rather serious infraction, it wasn't pretty. This is why I recommend checking out local laws and customs. If you behave there's usually no problems. If you insist on being stupid, well, you've read the above story. I'll tell you this, Singapore doesn't have the drug problems we and many other countries have.
Korea
Pusan, nice port city, wonderful people, not sure if I'd want to honeymoon there though. Being a port city there's a fair amount of international flavor there but if you're looking for a hard rock cafe, forget it.
The people are some of the most polite hosts I've ever seen and go out of their way to help you. If someone has a cold or sniffles they'll wear a surgical mask. I don't believe I 've seen that anywhere else except in china. Pointing is considered bad manners, so don't do that to point out a location you want to go. I tried using my butt but I guess that's considered rude too. It worked in San Francisco...oh well.

  The only food I'm going to mention is Kim Chee. This tasty treat is brined, fermented and aged cabbage. It is awfully good but certain variations, depending on the home recipe, can take the skin off  the roof of your mouth. Just ask before you eat. We did try a local breakfast drink you might want to think twice about, snail juice, yummy!

Overall we had a pretty nice time there. I didn't get to Seoul so you'll have to look that up yourself.
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1