Tissue VS Water, a serious clash of civilizations

Most countries will have a nice set of toilet paper or tissue for the needs of  hygiene after doing the ‘business’.

Clean and nice bathroom

Bathroom with toilet paper

All bathrooms have toilet paper

But do you know that when you come to Indonesia, 99,99% of all places does not provide a tissue or toilet paper in the bathroom or toilet?
Indonesian people grow up with using water, bailer, and water container in their toilet or bathroom. It is weird for Indonesian people to clean themselves using toilet paper or tissue.
So, when you come to public places or houses in Indonesia, remember this article and forget the teaching from your country that you have to use toilet paper.

Another thing to know is that you have to use your left hand to clean the ‘spot’, and right hand to hold the water bailer. It is a very disgusting thing to clean the ‘spot’ using your right hand because the right hand is supposed to be used for eating and other things, right? I know it’s really disgusting to clean yourself without tissue or toilet paper, but don’t worry because you can always clean your hands with the soap later on. Or maybe you can use your own tissue because not all hotels in Indonesia have toilet paper or tissue.

One last thing to know is that you have to bear with the cleanliness of the toilets in Indonesia. Around more than 80% of Indonesian people have no access to clean toilets or bathrooms. Even some malls do not have decent toilets with toilet papers. There are two types of toilets, which are sitting and squatting. Yes, you should squat, not half-standing.

(See this video about the dirty river, even the word ‘dirty’ is overrated. Sadly, this river is used for everything concerning hygiene by the people living above it)

This serious clash of civilizations really marks the difference between Indonesia and the other countries, but hopefully this does not discourage you to come to Indonesia and enjoy the uniqueness of it. After all, visiting other countries and learning their culture is fun, right?

(Credits go respectfully to the rightful owner)

Training your arm while taking a bath in Indonesia? Why not?

It must be nice to take a bath in Japan because they use a hot tub. Just imagine how refreshing it is to enjoy that after work, and sip a beer afterwards.
Or maybe, imagine the effortless way of taking a bath with a shower like most American and European. All you need to do is turn the shower knob and let the water wash you entirely.

Japanese bath tub 2

Japanese bath tub

Even monkeys love it

Shower

Shower 2

Unfortunately, you won’t have the luxury of those in Indonesia. Instead, you will have to use a bailer or water scoop to scoop the water from the bath tub. Looking at it positively, think about training your arm to fill and lift the bailer at least 50 times per bath and for three times a day. That’s quite a workout, more or less.

Other form of bailer / water scoop

Bailer / water scoop 1

Heart-shaped bailer / water scoop

Bailer and the tub

(You will get the idea by watching this video below)

So this is what they do when they don’t have a shower head for ‘bathroom karaoke’ and hot tub to enjoy, huh?
But of course, you can still take a bath in a hot tub or shower in a hotel.
Investing in shower and bath tub companies might be beneficial, though.

(Credits go respectfully to the rightful owner)