ofuro
in journal
after almost three months in japan, i’ve really gotten spoiled by the bathtubs. called ofuro, they are heaven in bath form. an ofuro is basically a super-deep bath tub with no spillover valve and with very hot water. also, (at least with our ofuro), the faucet swings out of the way once the tub is full. and since the ofuro is in a bath room that’s tiled with drains in the floor, you can splash away or duck your head under, spilling water over the edge of the ofuro, without worries. thanks to the incredibly powerful little electric hot water heater located just outside, with a handy little electronic pad located on the wall to lower or raise the temperature, one can have a steaming bath ready in minutes. so, yeah, it’s amazing.
now, bolivia has many excellent attributes, but easy availability of a vast quantity of hot water is not one of them. or at least, it’s pretty difficult to find. for example, our current apartment in la paz was largely chosen because of it’s impressively large hot water tank. i’m looking forward to going back to that apartment, that shower, sure, it’s better than so many showers i’ve known.
but oh ofuro, you will be missed. ha, i don’t think i’ve ever been cleaner as i can’t resist the call of the bath. happily, there are plans, of course, to have our own ofuro in bolivia, very determined plans. soon, soon. in the meantime, we have one week left in shimonoseki and i intend to take full advantage of our little slice of heaven.
