New Apartment Technology or Cookin' with Magnets....Could this replace Dr. Phil?

I spent the first week in my apartment in the usual way...Unable to work the Japanese buttons that control everything...

...I was unable to figure out how to turn the heat on so I had to pile on the blankets and wear a bunch of clothes to bed.

...Then I had to figure out the doo-dads on my new toilet...Wow, this one has a nice warm "wind" to dry off your backside...

...The cooktop was the real mystery though...It is one of those flat surfaces that, one assumes, has an electrical coil built in. I was able to get a light to turn on, but when I would put my hand over the cooking area, it would never heat up. I became convinced that, because this is a new apartment building, the electrics needed to be connected. Finally, I talked our apartment locator, Tavis, into dropping by - so that he could translate for me and tell our apartment manager to send a repairman. When Tavis showed up, he examined it. Apparently, my cooktop is "magnetic."

This is the ultimate in yin/yang technology. What it means is that it ONLY heats up when the proper pan is put on top of the cooking area ...and actually, it is ONLY the pan that heats up. (Too bad they can't figure out a way to adapt this technology to the human relationship. Can you imagine husbands and wives only heating up when they comes into contact with each other? Of course that might mean no more Dr. Phil and a lot more boring daytime television.)

But, back to the "magnetic" cooktop. The pan itself heats VERY quickly. This is the fastest boiling water that I've ever seen. I have done a few fire starter experiments. While my pot is boiling, I put a paper towel at the base of the pan near the cooking coil. It would have burst into flames with gas or electric, but it is barely warm with this cooktop - and I never did get it to catch on fire. Personally, this is a great relief. I live on the 12th floor and I'm happy to know that it will be difficult to start a kitchen fire.

There are a few other features of Japanese apartments that are worth noting. The newer apartments have very strict earthquake building codes. This building is not even a year old. So far I have been unable to feel any earthquakes here.

Also, if there is a fire, a person can go out onto their balcony. There is a rather flimsy screen between the balcony of each apartment. They are built flimsy for a reason. To escape a fire, one can knock down the neighboring screen and escape to other parts of the building. Also underneath the balcony flooring there are often trapdoors that allow a person to escape to lower floors.

And then, we just made a new discovery. Our inside doorlocks glow in the dark. I guess that is so a person can find his way around if there is no electricity.

PS - Regarding the magnetic cooktop - I have just heard from a friend who has one in Austin, TX.....I'll bet his does not have indeciperable Japanese operation instructions though...