Not so many people had a go at guessing this one. And no one got it right, either.
Our kitchen sink has this dreadful plug-hole, that isn't a plug hole, because it isn't designed to plug-up. Japanese usually wash their dishes under running water. But we, water-conscious and budget conscious Australians use a plastic tub. You can see from the lower picture that our tub takes up most of the flat room in the sink. We were constantly 'losing' things down this hole. They don't go far, just into this muck-collecting basket, but the black rubber 'lid' conceals the contents of the basket (for ascetic reasons, the basket is horrible).
This little green rubber non-slip mat give us a bit more space for stacking to-be-washed dishes and we don't need to fear that glasses or other small things will disappear.
I still remember the first apartment we had in Japan, I couldn't figure out why this tiny kitchen had this massive sink and no plug. Our senior missionary soon put us straight. I still don't really know why Japanese have such massive sinks.The one in our previous house (pictured below) was about twice as large as this one. It extended right under where the dish drainer is in our current sink. Thankfully there was a metal shelf fitted over it, so that we could drain the dishes in that space. And the large drain hole was under where the bowl was. You can see we put the washing-up bowl on a little stand - that is because it was so low it was giving my husband a back-ache to wash-up (and he is only just under 5'10.)
Anyway, now you know what the mysterious holey mat was!
I did look at it several times but had no idea what it was....
ReplyDeleteThe one thought I did have was that it looked a little bit like one of those non-slip bathroom mats, now I wish I'd said something since I would have been close(ish)!
I had no ideas at all. But I was interested to find out what it was.
ReplyDeleteI would never have guessed :-)
ReplyDeleteWould the lack of a plug be related to the Japanese desire to avoid pollutants in all aspects of life? Having dirty dish water sitting there in the sink would seem to be something difficult to put up with if you don't want mess around.
ReplyDeleteThey must also have lots of water. I don't think many Australians could wash up under water just running away. It did rain for some days in Sydney. Our three water tanks are full to oveflowing. I still went around the yard and emptied everything that had collected water into a bucket, rather than just let it evaporate or tip it out.
Ken, I have no idea regards your first paragraph. ?most Asians do it.
ReplyDeleteRegards the amount of water. Yes, there is heaps. For example, it rains, on average, once every three days in Tokyo. But I don't think it is any cheaper to use than in Australia. And many or most Japanese have large baths every night. They really are obsessive about cleanliness.
Okay - you got me again. :-)
ReplyDeleteAs far as the water issue is concerned, the very thought of washing under running water gives me the creeps. Like you Ausies, we are very water-conscious in South Africa. Especially right now where I live as we're in the worst drought of the decade. Crazy - when we're surrounded by sea!
Shirl, don't go claiming that South Africa is girt by sea! You have all that land stuck on the north side. So you can only put in your national anthem:
ReplyDelete"South Africa is three quarters girt by sea."