While I hope to get to some more serious matters soon, I'm still trying
to settle back in at Redhead HQ Taipei. Yet, at the same time, I hope from
here on out to maintain a better balance of life and politics here. Before
Fanfan and I left and while we were in the states, I was a little too heavy
on the latter and neglected the lighter stuff too much, which merits
illumination if one hopes to better understand Taiwan.
Alas, what better way to display this desire than a video about the toilet
in our friend's apartment in Tokyo? None.
As I mentioned before, we stayed with a friend in Tokyo for three days on our way back to Taiwan. I plan on writing at length about it later, but this will have to suffice for now.
You may also notice (but probably not, do to the shoddy quality of youtube video) that the overall quality of this video is much better than my older videos. Well, friends, that's because Fanfan and I invested in a snazzy Canon S5 IS before our departure, which is part of the reason I want to start taking more videos and photos for the site.
This means not only will my videos be of a much high caliber -- stereo sound recording with wind resistant microphones, anyone? -- but it also means that there are at least two bloggers in Taiwan who can take really close pictures of bugs (Yeah, I'm talking to you Michael)
Oh,
and the panorama's too (click for larger version):
2 comments:
That bathroom video sure brings back memories! It appears your friend has a "washlet". The left and center buttons are for washing and drying your bum, while the one on the right is a bidet function. This kind of toilet really cuts down on the use of toilet paper (which you can flush down the john in Japan, unlike here in Taiwan). I always liked the tap at the top of the toilet, which is convenient for a quick wash of the hands after flushing. BTW, it's not "da" and "xiao", but "ōkii" 大 and "chiisai" 小 (or "dai" and "shō", if you prefer). When in Rome... :)
The last panel in the video basically controls the settings for the bathtub. I miss having one of those here, though it was always a tight fit for my 6'3" frame!
It's the middle set of buttons that intrigues me. I never saw a panel like that in a Japanese apartment before. The control settings, from top to bottom, are for "ventilation", "dry", "heating" and "cool breeze". Did your friend show you how they were used?
Just out of curiosity, in which part of Tokyo does your friend live?
Thanks for filling me in on all of that, kaminoge. I figured that the 大 and 小 weren't pronounced the same, but I didn't know how to say them.
As for the other panel, I never asked her how to use them. She was at work when I took the video.
She lives about a ten minute walk from Shinanomachi station.