When Panasonic and Hitachi are your toilet manufacturers, then you are definitely in Japan, and your toiletting is always going to be high tech. There you enjoy the complexities of adjustable seat warmth, choice of background music and options around the loudness of the flush. I can choose between ‘Bamboo forest’ or ‘Mountain stream’ as surround sound to conceal the more earthy tones that may be projected during my visits to the bathroom. In Rosewood we had an outhouse until I was 15, the choice was between editions of newspapers, and any sounds were masked by our neighbour’s dog barking furiously whenever anyone went to the dunny. However the smell, although bad, didn’t match the smell of the person beside me on one of our Milan to Tokyo legs. I suspect his recent diet had involved copious quantites of roadkill or wolverine.

This man weighed approximately 0.75 Zm (Zm is a unit of measurement of body mass. One Zm is the heaviest weight an ex-colleague of mine attained in any calendar year- although variable it was usually in the 200-220kg range.) My seat-mate was young, Nordic and gagworthy. There is nothing you can do when trapped in the middle seat by a young, obese stenchbucket – except hope that there is deodorant served with the meal. There wasn’t. Or hope that your wife has pity for you and offers to change seats. She didn’t.

Tokyo has been a great stopover. We are staying in a familiar neighbourhood, we have eaten at our favourite restaurant and we have coffee each morning at a nearby coffee shop that we love. And we have used the time to go back over this set of travel adventures. Some awards;

Best place visited– Pietrasanta

Best moment – seeing the clouds lift over Barga

Best time – Seeing Nat arrive safely in Lucca on Christmas Eve (a homing pigeon she is not).

Best Meal – Linda’s meatballs in Lucca or pork tonkatsu at a restaurant found sulubriously within the Roppongi Metro station.

Best reunion – Seeing the excitement of the crew at Bluebottle Coffee, Tokyo

Best purchase – 5 rice bowls.

We have already started looking at next Christmas. Any time we go online the possibilities seem to grow. The Baltics and the Balkans have been mentioned. Portugal and Morrocco would fit the bill. We’ve never spent time in France outside Paris. We have Irish and Scottish ancestors that call to us. And the list grows

So much to see Remington, so much to see. I guess we’ll just have to keep planning and travelling for some years yet!

F C-S