Flag of the USA
What surprised me in the USA?
Drinking water everywhere. Wonderful. That's what keeps Americans smart and productive. After you have gulped down the water, you want a toilet.
What do I LOVE AND HATE? First the bad but I shall end up with what is good.
AMERICA The Bad
Toilets With Gaps Under Walls
First the toilet cubicles with the gaps. The cheap partitions spread from the USA to Europe and all around the world including Asia, notably civilised Singapore.
You can hear everything. I need not elaborate. This includes mobile phone conversations.
You can see everything. Shadows. Worse still, reflections. The door opens. The toilet paper is taken off the roll. The door opens.
You can see people outside as well. You know when you are alone, so you can have your phone conversation.
Sometimes water spreads from one cubicle to another, after a leak.
The same even applies to showers in gyms and swimming pools. Drop something and it rolls off.
Is it only America? No. Also China and Indonesia.
Flag of China
China
In China we took a day trip south of Shanghai. En route we stopped for a refreshment break. The toilets were like the communal toilets of the Romans which I had seen at Hadrian's Wall between England and Scotland. The water flow was a channel in the floor. No cover.
Lost Hat
One woman had leaned forward and dropped a baseball cap into the water! I heard the shouts and gasps from all the other cubicles as the hat floated towards me. Then it appeared.
I managed to retrieve it. I shouted that I had it. Somebody translated into Chinese (Mandarin).
I emerged and returned it to her. She was very grateful, profuse thanks, smiling nodding, Mandarin language. "Shay-shay," I now know is thank you, thank you. Translated by three well-wishers.
I had to wash my hands thoroughly. No paper for drying. Other onlookers and well-wishers obligingly provided paper for me to dry my hands.I felt like I had single-handedly, literally single-handedly, ended World War Three and created worldwide goodwill.
But, what of the dire dropped hat situation and the primitive toilets? How do you avoid this sort of situation? In a city, choose toilets in smart malls and restaurants and hotels. To find cubicles with walls, look for old fashioned hotels, or other buildings converted into restaurants.
You can watch films (movies) of other countries, but there's nothing like going there and experiencing daily life. A great escape from your own life.
The flag of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore is the New York of Asia, All skyscraper and high tec and lots of English. With the Jewel complex next to the airport with a giant waterfall at the center, and a free butterfly park, you can experience Asia in a half day or day stopover without even leaving the airport.
Does the sound of water make you want to go to the toilet?
Singapore also has Indonesian style toilets with no ceilings. or a wall of plants at the end. This unnerves me. The first one I saw was at the Night Safari. I imagined insects flying in or creeping in.
I concede it is attractive to look at. Some would say restful. Fresh air to clear the air.
Singapore Toilets
The Worst
Some community buildings and MRT railway stations have the toilet paper in a huge roll outside the cubicles. Always keep tissues in your pocket.
Usually the end cubicle has the hole in the ground style of toilet. Sometimes up a step. With nowhere to place your handbag. No hook for your trailing coat.
But Singapore also has many bidet toilets.
Many places have the hose for you to wash yourself by the side of the back of the toilet. Notice the lever to turn it off and on. If the lever near the head does not produce water, check the lever near the wall. Switch it on to get water. Switch it off so the hose does not leak all over the floor. You can even use the hose to wash your hands.
Even better, Japanese style toilet with the build in jets to wash yourself. Read the instructions. Again, check if a lever will turn the flow on and off. Forward may be a gentle flow and back a stronger flow, or change the direction of the flow.
Sometimes only one toilet has the device. Check the signs on the cubicle doors.
Partitions
The toilet cubicles with flimsy board partitions with gaps under the walls are annoying. No privacy. They have spread worldwide. A water leak in one cubicle flows over all the others. You can see the reflection in the floor or the shadow of the person next door taken the toilet paper, entering and leaving. It's like being a character in a spy movie. A refuge worldwide is old fashioned buildings and hotels which still have solid walls. Spread to London, England. Same in Singapore.
Useful Websites
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-6856507/Tourists-reveal-things-surprised-visiting-US.html
USA
visittheusa.co.uk
CHINA
http://www.travelchina.gov.cn/en/index/index.shtml
SINGAPORE
visitsingapore.com
Singapore Airlines, often voted the world's best.Yes, I agree.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment