(Malaysian) Toilets

What would a trip abroad be without a comment about the loo? You can tell a lot about a place from its bathrooms. We`ve started judging establishments by the state of their toilets... you can predict a joint`s overall cleanliness by the presence (and size) of insects in the bathrooms, its classiness by the ratio of tile to concrete, and its generosity/helpfulness by the presence or absence of toilet paper. Added points go to stalls with anything resembling a hook on the door, but we`ve only found one of these.

Most washrooms in Malaysia are of the squat variety, but every so often a hotel will offer a western-style toilet (although you generally still have to flush manually using a bucket and scoop... it was an enlightening day when Em realized the intricacies of how all toilets work, i.e. water plus gravity, with no magic behind the pull of the western toilet lever). Some of the squat toilets are clas-sy, with tile surroundings, textured non-slip areas for your feet, a porcelain basin, and tile mosaics around the edge. Those appear in the fancier hotels (where we use the phone and the bathroom, and leave quickly before they notice we are not guests). Public toilets, however, can be another story. I am incredibly sad that I did not think to take some pictures. Public toilets are always labelled with `TANDAS AWAM` painted on the wall, in red or black block letters. However, some part of my brain always confuses `Awam` with `Awas`, a common roadsign warning; hence whenever I approach a public toilet I see: `TANDAS AWAM` - `Toilet! Caution!` Enough said.

More to come on other countries... stay tuned for how Alyssa was peed on by the fancy Japanese self-cleaning toilet.