"Trash", Touchscreens and Toilets...

The week began with my American friend Nick tidying his room. He managed to fill a whole dustbin just with plastic bottles, mainly of the energy drink, "Pocari Sweat" (I swear he's going to get sponsorship deal, with the amount of it he drinks!) and another dustbin full of other "trash". To be fair, his room is now pretty clean. Here is the man looking proud of himself:

What a cheeky lad.

I went to Shibuya with a group of friends yesterday, but I didn't bring my camera. So you will have to wait until the next post for me to write about what we did, once I have a couple of photos from someone who took their camera. Anyway, at Shibuya station, we looked so touristy as we stared in awe at possibly the coolest vending machine I have ever seen. It has a huge screen, which displays adverts. BUT... when someone walks up to it, it displays the available drinks, in the style of a traditional vending machine window:

And it's a touchscreen! Maybe next time I'm there I'll buy something and take a video of the experience.

Also, on the topic of totally unnecessary but once-you've-had-it-you-can-never-go-back technology, here are some snaps of the dorm toilets:

The control panel (yes, the toilet has a CONTROL PANEL) allows the user to adjust settings such as the force of the arse-jet and bidet which can only be activated while sitting on the HEATED TOILET SEAT. I don't know what the other settings are, at the bottom of the photo. I was thinking of purchasing one to take home, but when I found this particular model (the seat and control panel only) in my local "Bic Camera" electronics store, I found out it costs around £300-350! Maybe not then. Also, note the tap on top of the cistern, which you can use to wash your hands to help conserve water. It works by water coming out of the tap, which then pours over your hands, and into a hole in the top of the cistern that fills up the toilet. Clever!

The other day, all the toilets on my floor were vacant EXCEPT for this one. I don't really know who's choosing a hole in the ground over the special deluxe fancy futuristic toilet, but Japan is, as I have discovered, a strange and fantastic country, full of crazy people!