a couple weeks ago we were discussing the fact that our city doesn't have one foreign hotel in it. the big city near us isn't the most major one over here by any means, but we still know of even smaller cities that have western hotel chains- and along with those usually come western restaurants or at least a western breakfast buffet. yes, delicious. but, alas, the city near us has none.
that same week jarred and i went to a sort-of deserted park to have a picnic and throw the frisbee for max. it is really close to us but takes awhile to get there because of all of the construction going on out here. and it is sort-of deserted because the government built this brand-new ginormous government complex out here and then once it was done decided not to move out here. we have heard a plethora of rumors as to why including that the mayor came to look at the buildings after they were completed and didn't think they were grand enough. but in my opinion they are some of the most beautiful architecture i have seen here. anyways, we were at this park and it is right next to this complex where they have been building a hotel for the entire year we have lived out here. and then i looked up and saw a howard johnson sign on top of the hotel. i immediately thought that the people building this hotel had just ripped off the american hotel chain name and put a huge sign on top of this hotel. and for me to think this is not that off-base given the fact that there is a fake version of practically everything here... clothes, phones, computers, cameras, seriously everything. and since the city near us has no foreign hotels and we live in the middle of nowhere right now, an actual howard johnson would make zero sense.
but then again, a lot of things here make zero sense to me. and as it turns out, this hotel:
right across the main road from us is a real howard johnson! we looked it up on the hojo website and everything. over the next 5 years or so the entire area out by us is supposed to explode with businesses, apartments, and (above all) people, and i guess howard johnson wanted to get in on the front end by opening this september. but what that picture doesn't show is that everything else around this hotel is muddy construction and villages, well, plus the empty government buildings.
and as you can tell, this hotel is pretty nice. another ironic thing about this place is that cheap-o places in america strike up a new image in asia and become super nice establishments. for example, pizza hut is one of the nicest restaurants in the big city near us. and it is really expensive comparatively. no $4.99 lunch buffet here. and so i have never thought of howard johnson as a luxury hotel, but it sure seems like that is what is will be. strange.
we are just hoping they have a western breakfast :)
