Base on my personal experience:

1.  90% of them are clean, dry and odorless.

2. It’s everywhere and easy to find. Even in my car navigator, I can just push a button and the navigator in a split second will give the information of the nearest toilet in the area and the way to reach them, in case Raisa want to go to pee in the middle of driving. (Very important when you have todler on board)

3.  Special one with bigger space and support device is always available for the handicap, elderly and pregnant women. Including there, an emergency button, in case you need help during ‘that’ time.

4.  It has the auto-wash device called "washlet" which with a soft touch of wireless buttons will wash you and in some case, dry you too. Washlet completed with option hot/cold, deodorizer, adjustable water pressure, adjustable nozzle/bidet position. Two buttons each for cleaning the ’small’ one (a bit up front and softer pressure) and the ‘big’ one (a bit back and harder pressure to really clean it!)

5.  In women toilet, a sound of chirping birds, rushing water or tinkling wind chimes will be on when you push a button, to cover you own ‘buzzing’ sound during urination.

6.  The seat is heated so your bottom will not get that shocky cold touch in the winter.

7.  It has anti bacterial spray wipe or paper seat cover.

8.  It has baby seat holding 5 month old baby to two years old. Mommy can pee freely without worry how to hold the baby (yes, there is no nanny here!)

9.  It has changing table to work your baby diapers.

10.  The toilet paper is abundant (yes, you can use as much as you want and don’t have to pay for that -not like the experience in shopping mall in Bandung)

11. It has water, soap dispenser and hand dryer.

12. It doesn’t have ‘mbak-mbak’ cleaning service waiting for the tip.

13. Many of them nowadays are auto-flushed. So forget-to-flushed accident will no longer threaten the following user.

14. In fancy places like restaurant and salon, accesories are provided in toilet like cotton buds, women pad, oil absorber paper, etc…

15. The future more sophisticated toilet is coming since Matsushita announced recently the new model of electronic toilet system that checks the user’s health indicators, such as weight, body fat, and the conditions of the excreta, and shows the results on a liquid crystal display beside the toilet seat. The data might also be sent to the doctor, enabling users to receive a diagnosis while at home.

On my first pregnancy, in fact, I always bring my tiny pillow to office and go to the rarely-used-super-shinny-handicap toilet to have my 30 min afternoon nap.
Shh, this is a secret.

"Kapan pulang ke Indonesia?"
Ratusan kali pertanyaan ini datang dari teman dan kerabat pada saya.
"Kalau anak2 Indonesia milih hidup enak and cari duit diluar negri, kapan Indonesia bisa maju dong…"

Diantara kesibukan di ritme hidup cepat disini, dalam hati saya tersimpan jiwa patriotis. Ok, dari jaman kuliah dulu saya bukanlah tipe golongan ‘negri’ yang jago debat dan pidato nasionalis, saya dari kaum swasta yang menurut pandangan orang lebih senang di dunia glamour dan persaingan corporate. Saya bukanlah tipe yang maju ke garis depan membawa bambu runcing.
Tapi seperti orang bilang, jangan menilai buku dari sampulnya saja.

Sembilan tahun yang lalu, ketika saya hidup dan bekerja di Jakarta, masih segar diingatan saya betapa setiap kali istirahat makan siang pembicaraan kami pekerja kantoran adalah sumpah serapah pada pemerintah dan presiden waktu itu, Habibi. Awalnya semangat juga mendengarnya tapi lama kelamaan jadi hambar. Hingga suatu saat saya merasa jenuh dan terusik. Saya selalu menghindari lingkaran2 pembicaraan emosional dan frustasi yang terbentuk disana sini. Apa yang bisa saya perbuat untuk Indonesia. Saya bukanlah pegawai negeri yang pekerjaan saya bisa langsung memberi dampak untuk masyarakat. Terlebih lagi, saya malu pada diri saya, melihat betapa saya dan lingkungan tanpa dsadari telah berubah menjadi bangsa yang selalu berkeluh kesah (complaining nation).
Memang Indonesia bukanlah negara terbaik didunia (seperti negara lainnya juga), memang pemerintah penuh korupsi, memang inflasi meroket tinggi, memang penuh koloni dan nepotisme, memang banyak sistem2nya yang kerospos dan membuat frustasi, utang untuk anak cucu menggunung tinggi…tapi sekarang apa yang bisa dilakukan…yang jelas selalu berkeluh kesah bukan untuk saya.
Saya juga merasa resah menjadi bagian dari lingkaran ketidakjujuran. Ketika saya harus urus KTP, SIM, dll mau tak mau harus diiringin dengan "amplop". Ketika di depan bundaran HI saya menyupir dan seorang polisi men-stop saya dengan alasan ban mobil saya menginjak garis putih (?!) saya mau tidak mau harus "mengajak damai" dengan puluhan ribu rupiah. Saya tidak takut membawa ke jalur hukum, but come on, semua orang juga tau hukum pun belum tentu bersih. Waktu dan emosi yang akan dihabiskan disana jauh lebih besar dari puluhan ribu rupiah.

Alhamdulillah delapan tahun yang lalu Yang Kuasa menghembuskan angin yang membawa saya hidup di negeri Sakura. Saya dan suami yang bukanlah warga Jepang maupun Indonesia, hidup sebagai orang asing disini. Tanpa disadari, kami menjadi duta kehidupan bagi negara asal kami. Dulu sewaktu hidup di Indonesia, kepala pusing dipenuhi negative list negeri saya, kini saya memiliki dan selalu memikirkan positive list of Indonesia. Ratusan teman disini mendengar cerita baik tentang Indonesia diselang makan pagi/siang/malam atau sekedar kumpul2 kami dirumah, kantor dan dimana saja. Ketika media masa dunia sibuk menyiarkan berita yang tidak memihak Merah Putih, saya berusaha mengimbanginya. Ketika berita terorisme membuat orang2 berpikir sepuluh ribu kali untuk mengunjungi Indonesia, saya berpromosi agar teman2 Jepang tidak takut ke Indonesia. Ketika Tsunami menghantam diikuti barisan bencana alam lainnya, saya maju di kantor berpromosi mencoba membuka hati orang untuk membuka dompet mereka. Ketika puluhan juta yen terkumpul dari kantor tempat saya bekerja dan sesuai peraturan kantor disalurkan melalui Unicef atau badan UN lainnya untuk Indonesia, saya merasa bahagia sekali. Saya merasa melakukan sesuatu, jauh lebih dari sumpah serapah.
Saya merasa, saya orang Indonesia. Saya merasa, menjadi warga negara yang lebih baik.

Jadi, ketika orang bertanya "Kapan elo back for good? "
Jawaban saya, "nanti dulu ah, gue masih enjoy jadi orang Indonesia"

Dirgahayu Republik Indonesia ke-61.

Teriring salam untuk ratusan ribu "duta bangsa" tersebar diseluruh dunia. Keep Indonesia "beautiful".
Juga salam untuk 210 juta bangsa Indonesia, tetap berjuang untuk Indonesia yang lebih baik.

Summer is Hanabi (fireworks) festival time. Every ward and town will have their hanabi night. In Tokyo and around alone, there are 20-30 events. Tens of thousands of fireworks shell will be launched some 120-500 meters up in the air, decorating the night with the magnificent view of latest design of fireworks. Fireworks is a big business here. Each fireworks company compete to win and show their latest design every year. This year I saw fireworks with the shape of Mickey Mouse, Doraemon, different type of flowers which color change up till three times after the blast.
It is surely not cheap. Each shell of firework cost between 20,000-50,000 yen. Multiply that to 5000 to 20,000 blasts offer by each single location.
The ward fund that from the tax money, sponsorship and the fireworks company too who take this opportunity to promote their product to win deal with many amusement park in Japan like Disneyland and others who use fireworks in daily basis.

Hanabi viewing too is a special thing. People dressed in yukata (summer kimono). This is the event where I can still see most of people wearing kimono. Kimono wearing is getting less and less in Japan, even in an event like wedding, but that is another story.
Picnic bag and mat is a must. Thousands of people will gather and enjoy the time. Group of friends, boyfriend and girlfriend, family.
Many food stalls lines up. Typical summer food: kakikori (crushed ice topped with syrup), coco banana (banana deep in melted chocolate), yaki ika (grilled squid), okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake), yaki soba (fried noodle), etc.

For my family this is a must-go event of the year. We are hanabi people. Six years ago, in a summer we can go to more than five events. One each weekend. But from four years ago, many ward schedule their festival in the same date, and we can’t be at two places in the same time. I heard this is to avoid too big crowd (it can reach up till hundreds thousand of people) in nowadays "security-concerned" world.
Raisa and Ken in yukata. Onigiri(rice ball) and mi goreng in the picnic bag.
Our favorite hanabi is Edogawa hanabi. The  event in the border of Tokyo and Chiba (so it is funded by both cities, resulting to bigger and better show). Two weeks ago was our 4th time to see Edogawa hanabi. As repeated bystander who always try new spot each year, we know the trick to get the best spot without have to block or queued from morning, guarantee best spot. Only for Ken the sound of the racket was a bit overwhelming.

People said fireworks is like burning money. But for me, it is not. It is a real entertainment and I don’t mind part of my monthly income tax is spent by the government for this purpose. At least, we can feel it directly in our eyes, and our heart.

Pedicure just done. Shining toes polished in pink. Summer in full swing, melting heat out there. Perfect time for strap heel sandal. So I just pulled one, not that flirty-strappy model, suitable for office look. Stocking? Hmm, not today. I remember in Japan wearing no stocking is a no it’s consider like wearing no underwear, but come on, it is not like wearing no bra under your white shirt. Beside, the toes are lining clean shining, let them show of.

I passed many times in front of the rack in the mall, where different type of summer stocking are on display. The one with no lining, the invisible, all type designed to be wore in sandal. I didn’t buy. I think stocking is like socks. You don’t wear it in sandal or flip flop. More than 200 days in a year I wear it, but not today.

The moment I step in my office, the assistant glanced at my toes and suddenly has this funny look in her face. Of course she didn’t say anything, this is Japan. Next is my senior colleague. The man stared and smile like watching a kind of entertainment.
Then when I was in washing room, a woman colleague said " Oh, your feet, I mean shoes…"
"What about it" I said.
"Er…nothing, it just look different "
" What different? Good or bad?"
"Er….just different"

And this continuos to happen the whole day that I said to my self, no more bare leg to the office. It considers naked. In Japan.

The news said today, Japanese are the longest-live people in the world. The average of Japanese life span of 81,9 years and until 75 years in good health the WHO definition of retain the ability to meet the daily needs like eating, dressing, go to toilet unassisted. One of 5 people in japan are 65 yeas old or above. In this 126 million population, over than a million are at the age of 90 and above.
So what is the secret? The study said:

* Eating three meals a day at regular times;
* Chewing their food well;
* Taking lots of fiber in their diet through vegetables and fruits;
* Drinking tea frequently;
* Not smoking;
* Having a home doctor;
* Being independent-minded;
* Enjoying activities that changed their mood;
* Reading newspapers;
* Watching television;
* Going out often; and
* Waking up and going to bed at regular times.

Personally, I know that everyone here doesn’t like to drink sweet. Coffee, no sugar. Tea, no sugar. Soda, no way. The only sweet drink is 100% juice, mostly consume by children (and me). Raisa in her 5 years old, like bitter green tea better than Coca Cola or the alike.
But Japanese don’t like to drink water. No taste, they said.  Green tea is their staple drink. So perhaps, it is the tea?

Most of everyone try to avoid abura mono (fried thing). Maximum only to consume the tempura or anything fried, once a week.
My husband complained Indonesian cooking that fry thing too much: ayam goreng, tempe goreng, tahu goreng, goreng2nya… but I said, it’s ok, I am fine to live until 65. I don’t need 81,9 years to live. I want to eat tempe goreng.

Most of Japanese try several new hobby in their life. That is, trying to start salsa dance at 52 years old. Go to music class to learn violin at 61 years old. Learn Spanish at 56 years old. Nothing, I mean really nothing at all, is too late. Not hip hop dance, nor climb the mountain.

The only point from the list above intrigue me in the 10th one. Should I loosen up my no-TV-policy to the kids for their better and longer life?