Thurs June 14 9:19 PM:

Okay so since this is my first legit post from Japan I am going to theme it around Japanese bathrooms, which I am sure everyone is interested in. This post actually goes along with a set of pictures I took, so hopefully the Blogger App lets me upload them.

Anyway, we are in the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. It is an amazing hotel — has 20+ floors (will post the exact number in the continuation of this post I will write tomorrow, as well as whether there is a 4th floor,) a HUGE lobby (Amma and Nelly, it is about twice the size of the hotel we went to with Anish Kaka,) and very nice rooms. I have two roommates, both of whom are fine…

Anyway, the bathrooms: of course, the toilet has a remote control Butt-Washer, which I haven’t tried today but intend to do so tomorrow (which necessitates the continuation of this post.). But nevertheless, the toilet has 2 parts, the actual toilet with the remote control (2 settings, Bidet and Spray, and a gauge for Water Pressure,) and the flush equipment and flush lever, which are actually on the counter. (Basically all the apparatus that is behind a traditional Western toilet is on the counter, and they are not (at least visibly) connected. Also the lock, which as oppose to a Western lock which you turn counterclockwise to push a bolt through the door, you actually turn it clockwise, and it somehow jams the actual handle apparatus do you cannot open the door — basically, no bolt!

Then the shower. First of all, it was amazingly hot, which was nice because I had a nice, hot, 30 minute shower. But anyway, the actual shower head is attached to a vertical rod, so that you can adjust it based on 1) your height, and 2) whether you want to take a traditional Japanese shower sitting down or a Western one standing up. That is the main special thing about the shower, but when I got out the whole bathroom was fogged except a little rectangular portion on the larger mirror which was completely clear — I have no idea what chemicals they have there that causes the anti-fogging!

Okay, I think that’s all for now, I am going to go to sleep and continue (and hopefully publish) the post tomorrow.

शुभ रात्रि!!! お休みなさい！ Goodnight!

Fri June 15 6:34 AM:

So, jet-lag was not too bad, I woke up at 5:45 which was a good 8 hours of sleep. I think that’s partly because 1) I slept in the plane and 2) since we got to the hotel at like 6:00 we only really had to keep ourselves up for another 3 hours before we could crash.

Anyway, the Butt-Washer: it is not at all too bad, and actually serves its purpose pretty well. I mean, I first tried the lowest pressure which did not do much, and then went up to the middle pressure which worked quite well! Anyway, the difference between Bidet and Spray is that Bidet is a slightly gentler stream of water, kind of like a water fountain, while spray is a higher pressure jet, like the jet-setting on the hose. The only weird part, initially, is that the water is pretty hot. But nevertheless, it worked!

Another thing I like about Japanese toilets is that the toilet paper (if you need/want to use it) is about twice the size of an American sheet of toilet paper. Like one Japanese sheet is 2 American sheets one on top of the other. That is much more useful, because an American size sheet it way too small to serve any practical purpose (i.e. Blowing nose, washing self, etc.); you always need at least 2!

Btw our building has 34 floors and while it does have a floor # 4, they don’t have a fourth or fifth floor (4 is an unlucky number in Japan because it sounds like the word for death.). BTW, the view from our window is pretty amazing and so is the stuff in the convenience store (I took pictures but didn’t buy anything because it was too expensive.). No free wifi here though…

Oh and the curtains also have magnets to hold them together! Ingenuity in the smallest things!

Okay, I’ll see if I can get wifi in the lobby — the good part of the Japan portion of the trip is that we are on a much more lax time schedule — today we have to be in the lobby by 10:15 and for the flight tomorrow have to be down by 8:15 as oppose to 6:00 at UC Berkeley.

BTW, it is only the students of the government scholarships (Okinawa and JUSSE) that get to stay in this hotel and visit the embassies, so I’m glad I got the scholarship I did! (Okinawa Peace Scholarship)

Ok, Bye!

8:13 AM:

Just had my first Japanese breakfast! It was actually pretty good (and 30 bucks, all paid for!). It was basically a huge buffet with a combination of Western and Japanese foods, of which I had a fried egg, Miso Soup, green and regular onions 🙂 , strawberry yogurt (the yogurt was really cool, they basically had plain yogurt and different bowls of fresh jam-like stuff you add to it to get flavored yogurt,) fresh orange juice, and the most amazing fresh kiwis and leeches! It was amazing!

Oh and the weather in Tokyo is surprisingly cool, 60s – 70s.