To Squat or Not

picture on a stall door

picture on a stall door

Finally… the follow up to the picture.  I’m sure you are on the edge of your “seat” wondering what was in that picture… but then again… maybe not!  There weren’t many guesses! 

I’ll repost the picture just so you can get another look at it.  These are receipts we got when we paid for going to the bathroom at the mall!!  How DIFFERENT is that?? 

No, we don’t have to pay for all public restrooms… but a lot do have a little box outside the bathroom.  From what I understand (which could be wrong), you pay as you exit the bathroom.  Some of these boxes are “manned” to make sure you pay, I guess.  The receipts above are the ONLY receipts we’ve ever received at a bathroom!  I thought it was great… thus, the picture! 

How much does it cost??  Rp 500 – Rp 2000 per person depending on the location.  (Rp stands for Rupiah just like $ stands for Dollars)  I know that sounds like a LOT of money, but it is only about a nickel to 20 cents! 

Now… I want to tell you about the bathrooms!  If you “follow me” on facebook… then you may have seen our little discussion about squatty potties.  You can google “squatty potty” to see images, but we happen to have one in our temporary house that I took a picture of for you!  (It looks pretty dirty… but it is just worn out, I guess.) 

You may wonder how this works.  Well, the name gives a big clue… you squat on it & potty.  I still had a hard time envisioning this.   But this is the advice we were given which works!  First, stand on the groovy looking part of the potty with your back toward the wall.  Then roll up your pants up to your knees if you can… next when you pull your pants down try to keep everything bunched at the knees.  Now squat & do your business… amazingly, it works!  It is basically like going in the woods… but it had been a few decades since I went in the woods!  So the last thing is the flush.  There are no handles or buttons.  Instead there is a bucket or basin with water in it (unlike the picture above) with a dipper nearby.  You scoop water out of the bucket and pour it down the potty… repeat until you are satisfied all is flushed.  Now, I’m pretty sure if you are a local, you pour water everywhere because from what I’ve gathered, they believe “Wetter is Better” which takes me to the next topic.    

But first I must tell you, there are also “normal” potties here… or throne potties, as I now like to call them!  Shew!  Thankfully, in this house we have 3 “normal” potties in addition to the 1 squatty potty.  When we move this weekend… we’ll have 1 normal potty, total. 

My first experience with the WET bathroom was in the airport when we landed here.  Thankfully, there was a “throne” in the stall, but it was very wet… and the floor was wet… and there was NO toilet paper!  Thankfully when I asked for toilet paper, I was given some.  You see, the “normal” thing is to NOT use toilet paper.  It was in this stall that I remembered some advice from a friend that lives here… “always have toilet paper when going to a public bathroom.”  I haven’t been without it since that day!  Now back to NOT using toilet paper.  Inside each throne stall, there is a spray gun… think kitchen sink spray gun.  Somehow they use this spray gun instead of toilet paper AND spray down the whole stall, throne and all, when they are done.  The AMAZING thing to me is that they come out DRY and perfectly dressed & put together.  I can’t even walk in and come out NOT using the spray gun and stay dry!  Go figure!  

I’ve shared how to flush a squatty potty, and some public throne potties have the same type handle as in the USA that you flush with your foot, but if it is a potty with a tank behind it like you find in homes in the USA, the “flusher” is completely different.  Below is what you will find on the tank lid.  You have two types of flushes to choose from… the button on the left is for a small flush, and the button on the right is for a big flush!  Pretty smart!  

Now, we have been doing a LOT of shopping getting items to set up our household here, and when you have 5 kids and everyone is drinking lots of water… you visit LOTS of potties!  Just like in the USA, there are lots of variations from amenities to cleanliness!  In big malls you might find toilet paper in every stall!  Yea!  Some places have a big roll mounted outside the stalls… so you take what you think you’ll need before entering the stall.  Most bathrooms are pretty clean (if you can get over the wetness of it all).  Sometimes you get a dry stall which is such a relief!  Now sometimes you get a bathroom (a squatty) that makes you feel like you’ve entered a time machine and traveled back 100 years!  But some squatties are in modern bathrooms.  Going to the bathroom in a new location, is ALWAYS an adventure! 

I’ll end this post with one last picture that should make you smile!  =0) 

Apparently some just love to squat even if the throne is
the only option.  The funny thing is, I've actually seen
shoe prints on the toilet seat when entering a public bathroom!