SQUAT

This may be more than some of you want to know about me and my life in Malaysia...but every aspect of my life here is to be shared! here in Malaysia, most bathrooms are filled with rows of squat toilets. Please see photo for a very nice, clean and tidy squat toilet that I peed in today on my adventures out and about! First notice how nice my red toenails look with my $15 dollar red shoes! OK back to squatting....on occasion you will find a western style toilet in a public bathroom. But most of the time the squat is what is available. Well, most of you know I was an Outward Bound instructor...and well I can pee anywhere. In fact, I pride myself on my ability to piddle outdoors, off the bow or stern of a boat while sailing, on the side of the road, in a bottle, or even standing up in the Savannah lands of Eastern Africa....I am not afraid of tiny holes in the ground or going into the ocean for a piddle if need be....so squat toilets here do not intimidate me one bit. But here is the clincher...how do you effectively get the pee into the hole without splattering on your shoes/feet? As you can see I have my feet off the intended area....that helps...if you squat really low down as Devin has been researching with his local pals....it helps too- but I can not squat very low- so I just aim for the hole and deal with the consequences. Aren't you glad you know about this part of my life?
Oh yeah- why squat toilets you ask...well Muslim people do not use toilet paper instead they use that hose you see to wash with water- actually proven better for one's sensitive parts...and they also use their left hand to help out as well. For this reason the left hand is seen as dirty...only used for bathroom things....and the right hand is the clean hand used for eating, shaking hands etc. Most of the time when I do find a western style toilet...there are foot prints on the seat...as people often stand right up on the seat and use it like a squat toilet...sometimes there is even a sign behind the western toilet showing that standing on it is not allowed! See told you it was more than you might want to know:)