Toilet-talk

You may have heard, or even been warmed, by the heated Japanese toilet seats. In Japan, heated seats are so basic that even the most shoddy of public toilets have them.

To take it up 1 level, they also have a bidet function. And when I arrived in Japan about 7 years back, the pricier models then had a blow-drier function. Probably standard fare by now in all the new models. And oh, some special models have a water massage for constipated people.

A couple of years later, when we were outfitting our house and looking closely at toilet seats, they were just then introducing seat covers that automatically lift themselves up as you walk into the toilet, using a sensor.

And then after that, in my friends apartment, I saw a model where on top of the seat cover automaticaly lifting itself up, a light just above the water level comes on too. I don't know the reason for that - for people who go to the toilet in the dark at night?

And this takes the cake. In the daycare where my kids go to. Which is in a new building. So new that the only tenant that has moved in is the daycare (and probably cos of them the landlord will not be able to find another tenant! LOL). The moment I opened the door to the toilet, the toilet cover started lifting up. And then classical music started playing. It was really nice stuff. Good sound quality, not like the tacky stuff that comes out from handphones. I looked up to the ceiling. No, no speakers. I traced the music and it came from the toilet seat's remote-control panel secured onto the wall. The music was so uplifting that it took some effort to pull myself off from the toilet seat after I was done. It felt so peaceful!

I pressed the flush button. It flushed, the seat cover closed automatically and the music was gone.