Philippines

For as long as I had known him, Matthew had been wandering the globe in search of the perfect place, or the perfect girl, and if ever he found one, he decided he ought to have been looking for the other.

-- Pico Iyer, The Lady and the Monk

Then, as we wandered back into the streets, watching two models set up for a TV ad, Mark asked me with a quiet smile if I thought I might find a Japanese girlfriend.

         “Oh no,” I replied easily enough.  “I’ve come here mostly to live alone; and besides, I don’t think any Japanese girls are likely to have much time for me.”

         “Well,” he said with a penetrating glance, “it would have to be an exceptional girl.  But that’s the only kind that you would want.”

-- Pico Iyer, The Lady and the Monk