A Tale Of Two Toilets

I go to my favourite Chinese restaurant for many reasons.

The food is good. They will cook off-menu, something traditional and authentic if you give them advanced warning rather than the American-Chinese Chow Mein or Chop Suey, which according to one school of thought might be a mis-pronounciation of  'chopped sewage'.

The people are friendly and nothing is too much trouble.

The ambience is amusing, verging sometimes on a Chinese version of Fawlty Towers. The telephone rings while the waitress dashes between the kitchen and tables. Often she failds to get to the phone and a loud answerphone voice booms across the restaurant:

PLEASE CALL BACK LATER

There is a vintage brass bell on the counter, with a hand written note in English and Chinese sellotaped to the wood:

THIS IS A BELL - USE IT IF YOU LIKE

But the best, the very best bit is the loo. You follow the signs ... through one door...  

through another door with another sign ...

... and hey presto - SURPRISE!

II love the way in which the Chinese are economical in everything they do. In everything there is so much choice. The only one missing is the squat toilet. But two out of three ain't bad.