Toilets

OK I've been meaning to do this for some time, so let's just get it out of the way.

First of all, if you need to use the restroom in these parts, you'll need to ask for the "TOILET." If you are an ignorant foreigner, like myself, and you ask for the "Ladies room," you have about a 2% chance of being understood. If you ask for the "rest room," you could very well be immediately escorted to the nearest Restaurant. If you are lucky enough to land a person who understands your query, they will almost certainly look at you with a pathetic smile and say, "Oh, you mean the TOILET."

Not the loo, not the water closet, not the ladies' or men's room, not the little girl's room. It is the TOILET.

So, now let's discuss options.

Pictured above is the "Western" toilet found in our apartment in Hong Kong. Yes, there is a flush, but it is on the top of the tank just behind the seat lid. Most of my readers should be familiar with this option.

Now, when you go to Japan, you will likely be faced with something a little more high tech.

Note the control bar on the left of the photo (user's right). Look at the interesting variety of choices there are!!

Or, at the really swank places or hotels, the control center may even be mounted on the wall.

See the small control on the user's right on this one?

Let's take a look at the control panel mounted just above the toilet paper rolls...

Don't know if you can see/read the main features, but they include

1) Bidet
2) Shower wash (it's different in spray intensity and surface area of coverage)
3) Seat warmer (could be a bit disconcerting to westerners who may think of "elapsed time issues" when they encounter a warm seat...but evidently popular with the Japanese)
4) Music
5) Flushing sounds

All in all, quite an interesting and entertaining place.

And of course, in all its glory...


The Chinese toilet. Now most places in Hong Kong have Western toilet options, but many in mainland China do not. For example, on some of the remote paths at the Great Wall, the only option is the "Chinese" toilet hole-in-the ground. The above one is actually quite luxurious. Just like a high-end hotel has a different Western toilet than do the "Rest Stops" on the lonely Texas highways, so there are varying degrees of Chinese toilet. The one above is NOT the rest-stop toilet. It is in a high end hotel.

The nice thing is, at some places like the Tokyo Narita airport, you can just pick from among all three! And the the lines for each are very specific...usually the lines for the Chinese toilet are the longest. We all have our preferences, don't we???