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(Interestingly enough, of course one might well encounter 'typical' things, but in circumstances you might not expect or wish. To return to the last item on my list: candomble, the black magic rituals of Brazil; yes indeed it 'still' exists, in Recife, for example, folksy little shop-ettes in the municipally restored historic centre of the city sell the paraphernalia of candomble to tourists. But a chance leafing through of the Recife Yellow Pages made me realise there was more to it than that. While having no interest in ethnic mumbo-jumbo per se I went to the Velho Preto, the Old Black Man, a neon-lit store of talismans, artefacts, candles, statues, curses; down the aisles customers toted wire baskets, selecting the right product to effectively curse their neighbour, queuing patiently at the checkout to pay by credit card. Not a tourist in sight of course; this was not 'typical'; this was the real bloody thing.

Likewise Feng Shui. I go into the emporium of Sin Yong Long in Singapore. He sells, amongst his huge stock a "De Luxe Feng Shui Altar" and a gorgeous pinky-peach plastic construction it is, with "background Lighting, Extension Board, Power Socket, On-Off switch in a choice of Golden Blue, Pink, Rosewood" for only 430 Singapore dollars. Or if we're talking ethnic how about a custard yellow and blush pink "De luxe Buddhist Lotus Altar. Latest design with Power socket and on/off Switch." I have checked in the UK periodical Feng Shui for Modern Living (£2.95 monthly). No sign of Blush Pink Lotus Altars there. (A later note: In chinatown Bangkok I am glad to report that you can buy Hello Kitty Buddhist shrines.)

The fear is that the modern world, modern living, above all modern architecture is all becoming the same; that you "could be anywhere", that Brisbane looks like Buenos Aires looks like Seoul. Of course at first sight there is truth in this. Modern architecture is indeed a world style and there is a large common denominator of uniformity. But then again perhaps we have not learned to look; learned to see the differences, indeed the growing differences, the growing localisations of modern architecture. There is simply no way that the extravagances of Jakarta or Bangkok might appear in London or Frankfurt. All too easily we look at something big and glossy and think, oh, modern architecture. But we should look more carefully; learn to discriminate more. Besides, we have, historically, been here before.

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