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MEXICO vs TOKYO
Text: SHAWN BLORE
Illustration: NORMAND COUSINEAU
1. Soft Drink/Beer Ratio
In the drink-anywhere-you-want megacity of Mexico, Dos Equis beer costs about 8.5 pesos, more than the locally produced cider soft drink Sidral Mundet at about 4.5 pesos a can. According to the Ginza cops in Tokyo, anyone over 20 can imbibe anything and buy it almost anywhere. A can of Asahi beer can be had from any convenience store, kiosk or vending machine, and it’s only slightly pricier than the favourite tea drink, Oi Ocha.
In a perfect world, 1:1 or a score of 100; anything lower is sobering.
Mexico 62.5
Tokyo 85
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2. Carbohydrate Comparison
Mexico City’s carb is the tamale – cornmeal laced with lard, steamed in corn husks and filled with spicy peppers and cheese, meat or mole sauce. Olé on the flavour, but watch the 15 g/serving fat factor. A healthier option is Tokyo’s onigiri (a rice ball traditionally wrapped in seaweed), with fillings such as salmon, sour plum, chicken with mayonnaise, or salmon roe. Fat is only two grams, and the taste rating is high.
A Parisian croissant is a baseline 100; other carbs must rise to the challenge.
Mexico 78
Tokyo 83
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3. Babe and Hunk Index
Tokyo babes try harder, spending their skyscraper salaries (or the wages of enamoured salarymen) to keep up appearances. The result is a babelicious score of 77. That combined with Tokyo’s respectable but less impressive hunk contribution should have been enough to put the city higher in the rankings – except that Mexico City’s poorer but prettier babes and hunks have apparently discovered how to do more with less, scoring a stellar 89.
Summed average of stylish head turners in a crowd of 100.
Mexico 89
Tokyo 77
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4. Street Life Indicator
The Mexico City streets are awash in beggars from four to 64. Speakers blare music, while kiosks sell everything from underwear to screwdrivers, deep-fried pork skins to frozen ice syrups. Oh, and knock-off Aztec pottery. Hilarious-looking people parade Tokyo’s Harajuku fashionista district, like gothic vampires and ninja teenage girls. The streets also offer jewelry,
T-shirts and palm readers offering to tell the future. Hint: It holds more malls.
Percentage of goods and attractions available on a busy street or square.
Mexico 86
Tokyo 43
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5. Public Order Index
Mexico City’s millions of residents disregard anti-jaywalking ordinances with revolutionary zeal. A cab trip in rush hour requires a calendar; at mid-morning, it took but 17 minutes to cover 7 km. Tokyo’s jaywalking quotient was a perfect Zen nothingness. Contemplate that. You’ll have time because travelling a mere 6 km on the city’s traffic-choked streets took a full 25 minutes, standard according to an experienced cabbie.
Average number of jaywalkers in a crowd of 200 people (low score, low fun factor).
Mexico 30.6
Tokyo -4.17
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Conclusion
The Godzilla-sized megacities each threw a few fireballs, but ultimately the over-regimented megalopolis of the East lost to its fiery Latin rival.
Mexico 346.1
Tokyo 283.8
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STANDINGS:
| Rio | 383.3 |
| Rome | 380.3 |
| Paris | 353.5 |
| Mexico | 346.1 |
| Amsterdam | 343.2 |
| Buenos Aires | 331.8 |
| Zurich | 325.8 |
| Berlin | 325.3 |
| London | 294.1 |
| Mumbai | 289.5 |
| San Francisco | 283.8 |
| Tokyo | 283.8 |
| Hong Kong | 281.5 |
| Moscow | 277.9 |
| Shanghai | 259.2 |
| New York | 255.1 |
| Toronto | 249.1 |
| Washington | 242.0 |
| Montréal | 233.9 |
| Los Angeles | 220.6 |
| Vancouver | 213.1 |
| Chicago | 197.1 |
Next Match : St. Petersburg vs. Havana – exclusively at enroutemag.com in December 2004.
Watch for a Civilization Index finale in January 2005. [ ]
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St. Petersburg vs Havana
Rome vs Buenos Aires
Washington vs Moscow
Mexico vs Tokyo
London vs Mumbai
Chicago vs Berlin
San Francisco vs Shanghai
Toronto vs Zurich
Hong Kong vs Vancouver
Montreal vs Amsterdam
New York vs Paris
Los Angeles vs Rio de Janeiro
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© 2004 enRoute is published monthly by Spafax Canada Inc. All rights reserved.
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