McDonald's in Bangkok

I must say that McDonald's is one of the most consistent American icons everywhere we travel.  Coke is another, and lately Starbucks seems to follow us wherever we go.  If you look closer you can find Pepsi and Gillette (though it seems a lot of countries we go to are a blade or two behind the US - for instance, both Sam and I love the Fusion razor, but the most recent blade you can get in Thailand is Mach 3 - go figure).  Everything else you might want from America is hit or miss - you might find it, you might not, but you'll generally pay double price.  Sometimes you get surprised - Burger King in Bangkok has a whopper value meal for 100 baht, which is around $2.50 US or so.  The Economist [the usually use Big Macs, but still] would say that means the baht is undervalued vs. the American dollar - I hope so - if the baht gets more valuable against the dollar, I get a raise! :)

Here's Ronald evincing the traditional Thai greeting - the wai [in Taiwan, he looks like he's congratulating someone at a wedding, or giving a gift at Chinese new year - McDonald's is clever that way]

And lest you think I'm above eating at McDonald's when I'm in exotic lands, think again - let me tell you, when you're homesick from living overseas, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that can scratch the itch quite like eating a Big Mac.  It tastes exactly the same everywhere you go.

[although drinking a Coke comes in a close second for curing homesickness -- in fact, in Thailand and some other countries, they still use cane sugar to flavor the Coke, which tastes *way* better than corn syrup -- so drinking a Coke outside of America is even *better* than drinking a Coke in America - again, go figure]