We have reached the end of summer, autumn is here once more and all the children have returned to school, leaving our holidays a distant memory until next year. This week’s story is all about a visitor to our shores enjoying a last eventful day in a London cab.

There was a Japanese man who had spent some time sightseeing in London and when his taxi arrived at his hotel to take him to the airport, he asked the driver to give him one last drive around central London for a final look at the sights before returning home. During the course of the journey, a Honda drove past the taxi and the man leaned out of the window excitedly yelling, “Honda very fast! made in Japan.” After a while, a Toyota sped past the taxi, again the man leaned out of the window and yelled, “Toyota very fast! made in Japan. Then a Mitsubishi four wheel drive vehicle sped past the taxi and again he yelled out, “Mitsubishi very good fast car, can drive anywhere in one of these! made in Japan.

The taxi driver was by now getting a bit fed up with these antics, but he managed to keep quiet as more and more Japanese cars passed them on the way to the airport and his passenger continued to extol the virtues of all cars made in Japan. Finally the taxi reached the airport and the driver told his passenger that the fare was £200. The Japanese passenger was most unhappy about this and exclaimed in a loud voice, “But why so expensive?” The driver couldn’t contain himself as he smiled and said, “Very good meter, very fast, made in Japan.”