Toilet Adventures

One of the things I've been intrigued by here are the restrooms. I think the U.S. has some of the most boring bathrooms in the world. You can expect the same things in almost any bathroom you enter: a toilet, toilet paper, a sink with soap, paper towels, and a hand dryer. Sure, the level of cleanliness changes, but not much.

In the countries I have visited thus far, the possibilities when you enter a restroom are much more exciting. First, not all of the stalls have toilets. You'll notice I didn't say restooms, I said stalls. At least half of the restrooms I've been in have given you an option, you can sit or squat. Why would someone choose to squat instead of sit? I have no idea. I think it's supposed to be a cleanliness thing, but that is still always going to be perplexing to me. I am at least thankful there are actual toilets everyone I've been so that I have not been caught pulling a Rachel ;-)

The next thing that is different is toilet paper. Many places do not have any. Some have places to put it and are simply out while other do not even seem to have an option. One place in Thailand had toilet paper hanging outside of the stall, so you had to decide how much you wanted in advance. Instead of toilet paper, most places have a hose. I have not tried this and do not care to. I cannot imagine how this can be done without making an even bigger mess.

The next thing is paying. I know that paying to use a restroom is not exclusive to Asia, however, I do not think I will ever understand it. It's never more than a few cents, but the principle of the matter still gets me. Also, I was at a mall in Malaysia and needed to use the restroom.. I started to walk in when I saw a sign that said this restoom was a "premier restroom" and would cost me 2 ringgit to enter. However, the restrooms on every other floor were free. I went to another restroom and it was perfectly fine. Since then, I keep wondering what could possibly make one restroom so much better that you have to pay for it.

The final thing that gets me are the handdryers. Think of all the different handdryers in the United States. The only real differences are whether or not the are automatic and the pressure the air blows. Here, that is just the beginning of the differences. Some make you put your hands down between two pieces of plastic and blow the air from both directions. Some are like the ones in the US. Many blow the air out at an angle. One blew the air straight out towards me. This was one of the worst and worked terribly. I'm getting better, but for awhile it was taking me 5 minutes to figure out how to use every dryer.