Hiiii,

Yes I know I slacked and took the day off yesterday. GOMEN NASAI. Mio and I got home from Tokyo around 10:30 and I then needed to shower and go to sleep. Any how, yesterday Mio and I met her boyfriend, Ryo, and his friend, Takumi, in Kyoto. We went bowling, ate, shopped, played pool, shopped some more, ate, and went home. It was a lot of fun! I had donburi for lunch which I love. Donburi is a bowl of rice with toppings on top. I had beef, Mio had beef and cooked egg. I say cooked egg because there was the option to have it raw. Yuck! For dinner we went to a Tonkatsuya which is a restaurant that specializes in tonkatsu which is fried pork. It was delicious. It came with miso soup, rice for the whole table, and what i believe was chopped up cabbage for a salad. Interestingly enough, water in Japan is free at every restaurant and cafe! Here is a picture of Mio and Ryo at the Tonkatsu. so cute!

Today has been a very lazy day. I went to the post office and shipped off some things to America so friends, keep your eyes on those mail boxes!

Now, lets talk about the bathrooms. Things may get a little raunchy in the next paragraph but bear with me!

I have never in my life been so excited to pee. Using a at home Japanese bathroom is the most amazing experience. I say at home because the public bathrooms can be veeeerrry different... Anyway, in Mio's house there are, at least, 2 bathrooms (I have not been on the third floor because it is where their parents sleep.) I am living on the 2nd floor and the bathroom outside my room looks like this.

One of the reasons I love this bathroom is because the mat and toilet seat cover both have my favorite Ghibli character Totoro on them! Totoro and I have a long history which I will explain later. Besides the cute toilet seat cover there is also a cover on the rim! This makes sitting incredibly comfy and relaxing. On the handle there are two Kanjis. One is the Kanji for big and one is the Kanji for small. I think you can figure out when you are supposed to use each.

By the way, I had to sneak around taking these pictures because Mio's mom would probably die of embarrassment if she knew pictures of her bathroom were being posted on the web but we digress.

The next bathroom is the one downstairs, my favorite!

Again it is adorned with cute characters to make your bathroom experience as comfortable as possible. This toilet is lacking a rim cover BUT it has something even better. The seat is heated.  Since I am from upstate I know how rough it is to come into the bathroom in the winter and sit down only to be scared your butt will freeze to the seat. Worry no more! This heated seat is the epitome of comfort, not too hot and not too cold. When you flush the toilet the sink behind it automatically comes on. So cool. This cuts down on spreading germs. This one also comes with more special features, also seen in public restrooms.

Again the two buttons on top are labeled big and small however the spraying water pictured buttons are much more. I have not tried them but one is labeled with a woman and the other is just the spraying water. I imagine, sorry to be crude, that one is for the front and ones for the back. This is not typical of America but I have seen it before in Europe and now Japan. Interesting...

Here is one example of a public bathroom that many are not used to and probably don't want to be. Yes it involves squatting.

This is just one example. The Japanese do have regular toilets for the public. They are not heated but do feature the bidet (for information on how to use a bidet please click here! It is mildly hilarious. http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Bidet.) They also have something I found a little strange at first. The is a button on the side that plays a running water sound. I'm sure you've seen those girls and even women who turn on the faucet while they do their business. Instead of wasting water they have a convenient sound to get you started. How thoughtful :)

I have not even gotten to how amazing showering is here. Unfortunately I cannot blog about it until I have a picture to describe it. The shower is currently being used to dry clothing so taking a picture of the shower with unmentionables hanging every where would be incredibly inappropriate and I'm sure I would be deported. So, you'll have to wait. Sorry!

Until next time,

Stay safe!