Well, I’ve been meaning to make a short comment about a few of the more interesting restrooms (as we Americans call them) in Indonesia. One that is really bizarre is the restroom in the classy restaurant, Cafe Batavia. The urinal area is akin to the dive bar urinal in the US. It’s got a wall with water trickling down with a grate at your feet. There are no pieces of ‘privacy wall’ to separate those using the urinal either. The other greatly strange and disconcerting factor is that the wall one urinates on is mirror, from floor to ceiling. So, not only do you have the opportunity to gaze at oneself while in a compromising position, one also could take a look at others. The next memorable restroom is at Ary’s Warung in Ubud, Bali. The restroom floors stop at a small, indoor river in which carp are swimming. So, if you’re in restroom A, the person in restroom B can eventually see the same fish swimming along past them. I would think this would encourage people to stay longer in the restroom, but what do I know?
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4 Comments
I believe we call them man troughs in Michigan, favorite not only of the dive bar but of the old Tiger Stadium.
But this was a high-class joint! Would you really expect a place with USD8 entrees to serve up a man trough? I did notice that while I was using the man trough newcomers to the restroom all went straight to the stalls.
Let me tell you, when I was in Beijing 2 years ago Lonely Planet told me that you can tell where public toilets in the Hutongs are by smell.
What it did not tell me was that there are now toilets rated with stars, like hotel categories. The 4-Star-Category included everything you whished for and was still quite bizarre, for I normally don’t buy drinks at public toilets facilities.
To keep things clean the floor was swept so often that it had a slippery film of water on the floor and was indeed very slippery.
What I truely didn’t understand though was why only some toilets had a sign on that told you that you would be allowed to but your feet on the toilet seat.
Go figure.
J
Ah, the wonders of Asia. I heard from a fellow PCV in Nepal that China had the worst toilets he’d ever experienced. Nepal and India both have their winners too. I wonder how the throngs will fare during the Olympic games there?