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Speaker 1: from House Stuff Works dot Com? Brought to you by
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Speaker 1: welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, as staff writer
Speaker 1: here at how Stuff Works dot Com. With me is
Speaker 1: always is the greatest edit tricks on the planet. Candice Gibson, Candice,
Speaker 1: how are you quick? Tell me what is the most
Speaker 1: expensive toilet in the world? Come on three? It is
Speaker 1: solid gold, y'all. It is a solid gold toilet. And
Speaker 1: it's not just this solid gold toilets part of this
Speaker 1: huge display, right, I have a solid gold laboratory right right,
Speaker 1: And there's actually um non laboratory parts of the displayers
Speaker 1: like gold Buddhist and stuff. But far and away the
Speaker 1: biggest tourist attraction here at Hang Funk Jewelers in Hong
Speaker 1: Kong is the solid gold laboratory, which is why it
Speaker 1: was such a surprise when Hang Fung announced early in
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight that they were going to start
Speaker 1: melting down parts of it, and people were mad, and
Speaker 1: not just because they had to get a really badly
Speaker 1: because you can't actually use the bathroom. The toilet is
Speaker 1: for a display, but it was just such an odd attraction.
Speaker 1: People wanted to preserve a fa solic old toilet for
Speaker 1: posterity sake, right, So Hang fun actually did start melting
Speaker 1: down parts of the laboratory because the price of gold
Speaker 1: had reached a thousand dollars. The dollar did weekend, thank
Speaker 1: you su Prime mortgage debacle, and gold went up, so
Speaker 1: Hang falling besides the cash in I mean, we're talking
Speaker 1: tens of millions of dollars for a ton of gold.
Speaker 1: And they assured everybody though that the solid gold toilet
Speaker 1: was going to remain. Can't say the same for you know,
Speaker 1: other fixtures of the laboratory, like the golden shower, the
Speaker 1: golden sink, that kind of thing. But the solid gold
Speaker 1: toilet remains. And that is the most expensive toilet in
Speaker 1: the world, indeed, and it's a testament to luxurious bathroom
Speaker 1: retreats everywhere. It is. That's kind of a big trend
Speaker 1: right now. Indeed, it really is. And now, you know,
Speaker 1: the bathroom used to just be another room in the house,
Speaker 1: but it really has become a sort of a spa
Speaker 1: retreat for people. People are adding uh, marble counter tops
Speaker 1: and sunken in tubs and um chandeliers in place of
Speaker 1: vanity lighting. It's it's huge right now. It really adds
Speaker 1: to the value of your home. So, you know, I
Speaker 1: actually read a study that showed that luxury bath upgrades
Speaker 1: return something like of the investment, which is just ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Kitchens are like, isn't that wild? And you know, it's funny, Josh,
Speaker 1: because the kitchen really used to be sort of the
Speaker 1: place where people would go to gather. You know, inevitably,
Speaker 1: whenever you throw a party, people end up in the
Speaker 1: kitchen and much to the hostesses chagrin. But um, now
Speaker 1: people are apparently congregating in bathrooms a because they're big enough,
Speaker 1: but b because just some are that nice. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not quite sure that the guests are actually congregating there.
Speaker 1: I think they're kind of assembled there against their will.
Speaker 1: But I read at least one article, one in the
Speaker 1: Wall Street Journal that was centered around this couple who
Speaker 1: threw an engagement party, a large one, uh, in their bathroom,
Speaker 1: and their bathroom, like you said, it was a nice one.
Speaker 1: It has This one had a coypon fireplaces and certainly
Speaker 1: lots of marble and all that. But uh, these people
Speaker 1: aren't just complete wackos. I mean, this is this is
Speaker 1: something that's becoming a trend in America. Bathrooms are starting
Speaker 1: to step up and say pay attention to me, pay
Speaker 1: attention to me, and people are doing just that. People
Speaker 1: are doing just that, and they have more reason to
Speaker 1: with innovations like the neo rest fix toilets. This is
Speaker 1: my favorite toilet in the world. I'd like to see
Speaker 1: even more than the solid gold toilet, mainly because you
Speaker 1: can actually use this one. And this is a really,
Speaker 1: really nice little potty companion. It actually opens its lid
Speaker 1: when it sendss you approaching, it warms so that your
Speaker 1: to doesn't have to touch cold porceline. Right, there's a
Speaker 1: there's a cleaning stream of water, a jet of water
Speaker 1: followed by a puff of air to dry you off.
Speaker 1: Pretty much the only thing the neoistics hunter doesn't do
Speaker 1: is talk to you. Wouldn't you agree? I agree? And
Speaker 1: so you've got this great near rest toilet where you're
Speaker 1: gonna do put in some schlovey shower or something. Now,
Speaker 1: there's plenty of other amenities too, that are available. Have
Speaker 1: you heard about this idle lux shower? I have not, Dude.
Speaker 1: This thing is a stand up shower, but it has
Speaker 1: a UV lights around it, so you actually tan while
Speaker 1: you're showering. Wow. That certainly is an upgrade from the
Speaker 1: bathrooms of your uh cess pits and which people used
Speaker 1: to urinate and defecate and open areas. Sure, yeah, but
Speaker 1: I mean what came after that? It wasn't a direct
Speaker 1: leap from cess pits to out houses, was it. No?
Speaker 1: Trenches came next? Oh, gotcha? Yeah? And then out house
Speaker 1: it's right, And then yes, and then aspensibly the near
Speaker 1: rest ascendered. Right. Yeah, it's pretty much the progression. It's
Speaker 1: like that a picture of the evolution of man, except
Speaker 1: with bathroom Now. Well, if you want to read more
Speaker 1: about the most expensive toilet in the world and other
Speaker 1: lux bathroom fixtures, check out the article entitled What's the
Speaker 1: most expensive toilet in the World on how stuff works
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