Learned something new.

You learn something new everyday, or so the saying goes. Here is what the idle monkey trainer learned over the last few days:

• 10% of world GDP is related to the aviation industry
• 94.3% of Japanese females in their 20's own a Louis Vuitton item
• It is possible to cleanly shave 99.99% of one's face and still leave intact a clump of 6-inch long hair growing from a solitary mole on the face. (This really is anecdotal and based on the Thai guy and Chinese guy I met over the weekend. At first I thought it was simply neglect or obliviousness to the hair, but realized that the shampooing and styling of one such patch of mole hair constituted a conscious effort at cultivation and required, I would assume, great patience.)
• The toilets in the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo are the nicest public restrooms on the planet. Each stall features floor to nearly ceiling walls and door (to prevent unsolicited advances by rogue Senators, and others), a "washlet" (heated seat with shower function) and soothing classical music kept at a reasonable volume. The soap dispensers and faucets are all automatic, so one does not have to touch anything.