Hardy's Asia trip: Racing, shopping and Tokyo's toilets

WATCH HARDY LIVE IN TOKYO OCT. 20-21

U.S. swimmer Jessica Hardy is clearly enjoying her trip to Singapore and Tokyo, where she is competing at two meets on the FINA World Cup circuit.

Just ask her what she did in Singapore.

"I was able to go shopping on Orchard Street with Natalie Coughlin, Madison Kennedy and my boyfriend Dominik [Meichtry]," Hardy told us after landing in Tokyo. "I bought some tiger balm and scoped out all the new electronics that haven't made their way to the U.S. yet."

And then in Tokyo: "This is my first time in the city, and I am looking forward to cramming in as much sight-seeing as I can during my short stay here," she said.

There was even some bathroom humor in the Japanese capital, as the international swimmers are apparently having a difficult time adjusting to the high-tech toilets there.

"We weren't aware what the buttons meant since they are all in Japanese," Hardy said. "One of the South Africans was pushing buttons while using the toilet, and all of a sudden something extended out of the back of the toilet and sprayed water. It turned into a bidet out of nowhere!"

If you think Hardy is merely goofing around and playing the role of a tourist during her week-long trip to Asia, however, you're wrong. The 50m and 100m short course breaststroke world record holder won both races in Singapore ... and this was after enduring an 18-hour trip from California less than two days before the meet started on Saturday (which was really Friday local time).

Hardy tweeted over the weekend that the jetlag had her up at 3:30 a.m. the first day of the competition. "Thankful I stashed some powerbars in my room, snackin' away!" she wrote.

The 23-year-old won the overall women's title during the 2009 World Cup, an effort than earned her a check for $100,000. A year later after winning four gold medals at the Pan-Pacific Championships in August, Hardy said she's only swimming at the Singapore and Tokyo stops of the seven-meet series. The California native, who trains with the Trojan Swim Club in Los Angeles, told us she will return stateside this week and start her preparations for December's Short Course World Championships in Dubai.

"I am in excellent racing shape, but haven't had base training in awhile so my expectations aren't very high [at the World Cup meets]," she said. "At the moment, I am just maximizing my experiences racing some of the best swimmers in the world, working on perfecting my technique and having fun."