QUIET by Susan Cain: a Life Changing Book for Introverts Like Me (pt. 1)

For those who know me, knows very well that I am a keen reader, a.k.a bookworm. I love books since forever. My hobby is, well, reading. It was perfectly sound to have that hobby 10 years ago (when I was in elementary school almost everybody put "reading" as his/her hobby in bio columns). But now, it seems that reading is a "peculiar" thing especially to be considered as hobby - in this generation of internet and smartphone, paperback books are ancient stuff. Or, maybe it's just Indonesians that don't have a reading habit (we do have a smartphone habit in replacement) and not the rest of the world in general.

Like I care. I have loved curling into pages of interesting stories and will always love to do so,  no matter what.

So, I want to share with you guys a special book that is beyond just a single-serving storytelling. This book worth a million of other self-help/psychological book that sometimes just vaguely scoop a tip or another of "leadership", "public speaking", "talk", "networking" - things that becomes important of our business-oriented world we are living to day. Why? because it embraces that there are naturally these types of people that is just prefer to slow down, observe more, think deeper, and talk less.

Introverts.

Give a roll of applause, ladies and gentlemen, for Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain.

QUIET cover, with the clever emboss design I love so much

For a starter, I am an introvert. Introvert is NOT always means being shy.  I am not shy, mind you. Public speaking, presentation, talks? bring it on. Meeting new people? go ahead. For me, my introversion is reflected by my preference to:
1) think, think, and think,
2) talk less and do more,
3) talk about things that matters rather than shallow gossips bullshit (I HATE GOSSIPS!),
4) hanging out with a close circle of trusted friends rather than big group of friends that I may of may not trust,
5) limit the doses of social interactions and let myself sink into something I really care a little bit more often.

I always think that introversion, or simply to be the way I am, is a right/freedom of human way of being. You may be a rowdy, wild-party-animal extrovert or to be an elegant, classy-thinker introvert. That's equally okay and we can live together in peace, each other backing up of their core abilities to solve world's problems.

That...turns out to be a utopia.. sort of. I discovered the "Extrovert Ideal" value (as the book refers to) when I start to hear alumni talking about how to be successful in industry. Everybody somehow HAS TO be very talkative and going out a lot - that's the secret recipe of success, among any other thing. The world don't care, they implicitly said, that you are a genius or brilliant or a hardworker, as long as you can't be crowd pleaser and loud chap, all those brain qualities does not matter. Of course it implies the other way, that it is actually okay to not be very capable of what you are doing, as long as you speak well and loud about things even though it does not make sense.. suddenly you are a man of choice.

Is this true?
Because I sincerely doubt that.

Okay, I get it that you have to be able to communicate your ideas well. You have to be a polished presenter. You have to be able to speak your mind. I agree with that. But to say that just being an excellent presenter/talker means that you are 100% fit, I DISAGREE. In my experience, content matters. Garbage in, garbage out. Shit is shit,  no matter that you wrap in in a festive red-ribbons and decorate it with stellar glitters. To "wow" people with your superb talking/presenting skill is important, but for me that's only a halfway. The other half is to have a meaningful, well-prepared, well-contemplated idea, or solution, or content. You can't just favorite one to the other. In order to succeed, you have to got both.

The other part of this "Ideal" I sincerely hate is the way I have to fundamentally change the way I was born to be someone I am not. In other words, to fake it 'till you make it. That means, to drop myself into fake laughs, fake interests to gossips or other shallow things, fake that I enjoy constantly attending parties when I actually need a time to read my books, fake that I don't read. Some people survive this, and even suggest this, but I DISLIKE this strongly. What is the point of "success" if you have to pretend to be somebody else? And, don't you think that the way introverts are has its own bliss that the world actually need. Say, Steve Wozniak, Gandhi, Bill Gates, Rosa Parks, Einstein, Newton, Van Gogh, Tesla, J.K. Rowling, Theodore Roosevelt are all quieter and more cerebral, but the world certainly embrace them. Isn't there a way to be commmunicative and social, in a healthy dose I can take, and also embraces that I actually like to spend time alone doing things that matters.

In the doubt, the book came across. I vaguely heard about the masterpiece on the internet, and when I made a trip to Periplus bookstore in Yogyakarta, the book came to view and I didn't think twice to snatch it.

So, how does this book exactly change my life? I will write in part two. Sleepyhead right now :3
to be continued..

The Investigation of Japan's Hi-tech Toilets

Oh, Japan. I've just come back from the country for a 10-day exchange and realized it was the best place I've ever visited in my life (yet). Japan is the place where I feel most human, from the garbage-proof streets, mess-proof buildings, late-proof transportation system, pollutant-proof air, and the best of all.. their people who respect each other; they judge less and do more. I can go all day raving about the Japanese people as humanity model, but this time, this article is dedicated to one of the most important indicator of any society in the world: toilets.

I remembered that time on March 12, 2014 when I landed from Japan Airlines Boeing 777-200ER (yes, that same plane) to Narita Airport. After brief passport-checking and luggage-claiming, nature called. Two of my friends and I then headed to public airport lavatory. It looked normal, as normal as any decent international airport would look like... until I sat down there.

The... toilet... is.. ELECTRIC!!!

I don't know the right word to describe.. electric? automatic? electronic? It actually felt like pooping on a gadget rather than a toilet! So, instead that a normal Indonesian (world?) sit-down toilets which usually are occupied with a few manual handles to spray some water of flush some organic product.. Japanese toilets lets you ELECTRICALLY control EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of your "business" experience by a few button clicks away.

Looks innocent.

What sorcery is this??!!!

Needless to say, it was new to me. And shocking. Actually, on the plane I encountered a similar control-toilet, but that time I thought "oh, maybe it just because of this advanced aircraft type I am flying with". But, no. As I stayed in Tokyo, visited Asakusa, lived with host family in Chiba, experienced its private university, flashed through its restroom, shopped at their malls... the super hi-tech Japanese toilets seemed to be the standard of the nation for sit-down toilets.

Now, let me tell you how is it like to process nature business there (and how awesome it was).
So, first of all, you sit. In the vicinity of winter/spring transition that time, you would expect a cold-dead seat, since its like 10 centigrade outside. No, baby, the seat is heated. Proceed to pee or poop, then you can spray some water to your "launcher". But this time, you have option from which direction the spray would go, say, you can choose to hygiene your (sorry) anus more or genital more. Needless to say, the water is heated. Furthermore, you can control how many water pressure or how many water volume you need. Then grab their soluble toilet papers. Still feel a bit wet? There is air blower option. Afraid to smell bad? proceed to deodorizer option. Then, flush. You may have three options: full flush, half, flush, or eco half flush. Sometimes, you will have a more advanced toilet type which requires you to wave on the sensor bar to flush, instead of pressing a button. Oh, you want to poop but too ashamed to be associated with the "boom" noise? The toilet has mp3 option which can play flushing sound. Some toilets even automatically plays mp3 sound whenever you sat down on it.

Okay, Japanese toilets are hi-tech and awesome, but so what? Dude, it is not just "so what". You know, toilets are the forgotten place where a status of a place (or a society or a country) are honestly reflected. Clean toilets mean clean society, why? because it is the place where people will visit at least 7 times a day. It is a place of repertoir. It is the place where you can see how exactly somebody cares about higienity and cleaniness, and how they respect themselves by keeping clean place they visited most a day. Furthermore, for public toilets, it is also the place where you can see how a society portrays its fellow members; whether a person cares that somebody will use the stool afterwards and therefore leaves it polished so other people don't get hard time. Japanese people in general are intrinsically justice and respectful, they don't want to cause their fellow human being inconvenience, hence  strict garbage-classification rule, do-not-disturb-neighbor/coworkers/passengers-with-your-loud-mouth norm, and the ultra clean, ultra dry toilets also.

And also, when a country can place so much energy, technology, and effort to develop these kinds of toilets, and how it catch the wind throughout the nation.. that proves Japan is hi-tech by heart and soul, isn't it.

Now, since the title is investigation, now let me unveil the company and the toilet type which is responsible for the futuristic lavatories of Japan.

Ladies and gentlemen.. give applause to TOTO WASHLET series!
So, TOTO, Japanese toilet products company, introduced a specific line dedicated to these electrice toilets "WASHLET". You can find the english version of the product line profile here. Apparently, the model so scatteringly serves as urban standard in Japan is the "basic" TOTO WASHLET B100.

the TOTO Washlet B100 (USA ver.), basic model. (Gosh, their "basic" is our "advanced")

The one with panels attached to a wall is a more advanced E200 (as I've seen in Daishin Ryokan, Chiba). To learn about green concern of the company, click here. But apparently, they have different coding for different region, for example asia.toto.com gives TCF6411A for B100. The authentic webpage from TOTO Japan is at toto.co,jp but it is fully in Japanese (still can be roughly translated if you use Chrome's web translation) I can't find the hand-sensor flush type on those three regions, though. According to Taipei Times, TOTO held 65% market share of toilets in Japan followed by INAX of 25%.

Actually, there is almost zero English explanation for each button of the toilets. So, when you are going to visit Japan,  this throughout guide will whisk you away from shameful wrong-button-push toilet experience. Hilariously, I came there with a super-thin knowledge about its bathroom facilities or Japanese language, so yeah... it was quite a fun experiment pressing all the buttons.

And YOU should visit Japan. Really. If you ever dream or plan to enjoy abroad vacation, make sure Japan is in your priority list. This is the country when you can be inspired in a way you never think before. This is a country that will inject you with a belief in humanity. For introverts, this is a country when you can thrive because of the way you naturally are, not in spite of. I personally find peace and serenity in this beautiful and justice country, where people much less think about crushing each other for the sake of worldly desire (will wrote further about this topic).

Visit Japan. Experience its toilets. Get inspired.