This week’s issue TIME ASiA magazine, June 28 issue on newstands now, has a feature about “toilets as tourist attractions in their own right.” You know it’s going downhill from here.
Time writes, in a piece called FLUSHED WITH PRIDE:
It may be a functional space, but that hasn’t stopped designers and architects from turning the humble toilet into a room of surprises. With breathtaking vistas, wacky themes or lavish materials, there are rest rooms out there that’ll make you feel like a million bucks each time you spend a penny.
The story then lists several good places in Asia for what they call a comfort break.
Among the listees are:
SAPPORO: JAPAN: Take a comfort break on top of the city’s highest building. Toilets at the JR Tower’s observation room are 160 meters above street level and walled with glass. According to the designer, “one is supposed to do it as if one is taking a leak into a river from the top of a bridge.”
and (drum roll)
Taizhong: TAIWAN: In Taiwan’s third-largest city, the Chung Yo department store boasts 13 themed toilets, incorporating everything from pop-art and Baroque motifs to toilets designed to resemble a jungle or aquarium. Each toilet cost a cool US$30,000 to install
Who writes this stuff? Better yet, who assigns reporters to write this stuff?
Well, Taizhong is famous around the world now.
Did TIME miss anything in Taipei, Kaojung or Jeelong?
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