Some food
Before I continue on my lavatories odyssey around the land of the rising bum spray, I thought I would talk a little about food. I’m a big fan of Japanese food, simply the fact that it is so different from stodgy western food makes it ok in my books. Each time I come here I learn a little more about it and I am willing to try everything that is thrown at me. The thing I love so much is the fact even a 1000 ¥ (~£8/$12) bento box is presented immaculately. This goes for the country in general, the emphasis on politeness leads to universally excellent service and a desire to please and that is reflected in the food served.
The attention to detail is even reflected in the tooth-picks which have a delicate little detail at the top!
On my second day in Japan a couple of colleagues and I jumped on the Shinkansen (bullet train) and headed for Nagoya for some meetings the following morning.
The bullet train was on a bit of a go slow…
As soon as we got to Nagoya we went out for
Tonkatsu and specifically the Nagoya specific version, served with a thick miso sauce. It was really fantastic, crispy on the outside, amazingly tender pork in the middle and the miso sauce was a great accompaniment. The dish was also served with a huge bowl of shredded cabbage which you drench in the gorgeous sesame sauce.
Tonkatsu a go go
This trip I did a fair bit of travelling around on the Shinkansen to see various clients so lunch usually consisted of a bento box full of delights. The thing I enjoyed most about these was that half the time I didn’t have a clue what I was eating but generally it was all good. One of the things I love about Japanese food is the range of flavours you get, and each bite can be quite different.
Bento heaven, I had an even more random box on another train but forgot to grab a photo.
On my last full day in Japan I went to visit a company near mount Fuji (a truly iconic an impressive volcano/mountain) and after our meeting we went out for
Unagi (Eel) one of my favourite dishes. I try to avoid carbs whenever possible, not easy in Japan, but on the menu at this particular restaurant was the choice of a plain and simple box of the fantastic tasting fish which I devoured readily.
One of my favourite Japanese Foods, Unagi.
The ever impressive mount Fuji (sorry for the blurriness, we were going 150 mph at the time!)
For all the amazing food available in Japan, the local population do seem to have a soft spot for some of the worst of western foods with Starbucks everywhere, Burger king and, most popular of all, KFC. Oh, and very randomly, this…
Toilet number 2!
As I mentioned earlier, I headed over to Nagoya for a meeting and, with the appointment early the next morning, stayed overnight in the Meitetsu Grand Hotel. It was a slightly odd place dressed up to look a bit like a grand old European hotel inside whilst simultaneously being a bit care worn and faded. My room was large, for a Japanese hotel, but generally a bit run down and the toilet was something of an old model.
Loo Two!
The seat controls were again mounted to the side again making access tricky. One impressive thing, however, was the seat heat which moved beyond toasty and into the realms of light bum cheek cooking. There was an option to turn it down but Japan is cold this time of year so I felt I could walk on the wild side and leave my behind to cook. Another exciting feature of this particular model is the variable spray strength controlled by a large analogue dial. This allowed me to pretend that I was some kind of space ship captain slowly dialling up the power on my rocket/bum spray.
The whole show, however, was let down by the fact that the flush was a manual one mounted behind the toilet on the wall. Can you imagine having to actually having to manually flush a toilet with a lever? Such barbarism!!
Overall: 7 out of 10, nice features, good heat but all let down by lack of electronic flushing.