Not too long ago...maybe two years or less...

...a neon salesman seems to have visited the island and convinced every shopkeeper, no matter how small or ramshackle or remote the shop, that he needed to add flashing neon to his shack. Now you need to understand, these one-room shacks sell beer (cold beer right out of the cooler is more expensive than the alternative); betel nut and the accouterments of pepper leaves and ground coral lime; individual cigarettes that are broken in half and the tobacco added to the betel nut for chewing; and an assortment of seemingly random items that have clearly been languishing on the shelves or hooks behind the open-air counter for years.

One shack can serve an entire community and most are open late at night to catch the late night ran-out-of-Bud Light crowd. But just in case your customers can't find your shack that they've been shopping at for years...the one that their brother or uncle or cousin owns... slap up some neon and sales will increase. Guaranteed.

Here in the island's only town, neon flashes and winks and twirls as soon as the sun sets. Here's a shot of what we fondly call "Times Square"...not so very different from the original, do you think? The store on the far left and the one in the middle are called "the Bangladeshis." (As in, "Do you know if the Bangladeshis have any passion fruit today?") So called because they are owned by...yes...Bangladeshis. The store on the far right is Guang Mao...as you can tell from the neon sign. It is owned by a Chinese family and is a much-larger-than-normal three-room affair with two of the rooms devoted to storage. Fancy.

And then Christmas arrived and it was necessary to add even more winking blinking twizzling lights to celebrate this season of merriment and entice shoppers to fulfill their last-minute gift needs, pick up some more Bud Light and a sack or two of rice for when the family convenes during all those holiday parties, oh and don't forget the betel.

It really is best experienced in person. This photo does not do the amount and activity of the neon and holiday lights justice. Much like the real deal on the other side of the globe.

Nonetheless, welcome to Times Square Yap style. (Actually, as much as I love NYC, I'll take this one over

the original one any day...or night.)