Exclusive Toilet in Kuala Terengganu?

We are now in Terengganu. I had a one day facilitating job at the place of work where I retired from in Kuala Terengganu, held at a hotel close by and another day (Thursday) in Kerteh. Ram followed me as usual. We stayed two nights in the hotel, a cozy 300 rooms resort by the beach open to the South China Sea and overlooking Pulau Bidong, the island that used to accommodate boat refugees from Vietnam during the Vietnam war. Facilities available in the hotel were basic but yet comfortable and pleasant.

The facilitating stint is similar to the one I did a couple of weeks ago. There was no hassle and I enjoyed the activity, so also the participants I guess. I still have some difficulties standing too long and I am still using the walking stick but that was no hindrance. As had been commented earlier I looked dignified with walking stick ha ha ha!! Some of the young participants also said so, the ladies I mean…. heh heh! Maybe I should continue using the walking stick.

We checked out of the hotel at just before noon. My niece, a school teacher, and her family who was in Kuala Terengganu for holiday (the two weeks school holiday has just begun) picked us up and took us to lunch in town. After lunch we needed a rest room or toilet to ease ourselves. Furthermore we have a two hours travel to Kerteh by road and we can’t wait two hours. My niece mentioned that the Kuala Terengganu Municipality had built an exclusive toilet facilities in a public area meant for the use of the general public and tourists alike but we have to pay a fee to enter. That building, in a park, is really prominently named ‘Exclusive Toilet’ in large letterings. It is supposed to be a five star facility!! Yes, that’s what the locals call the facilities, Five Star Toilet. If the standard of public toilets in the local towns is anything to go by then an exclusive toilet should be a much desired outlet for our overfilled bowels or bladders. There were toilets that really put me off, that made me loose any desire to ease myself when entering them. Thus hearing that there is an exclusive toilet available we jumped at the prospect of easing ourselves ‘with’ pleasure…… hmmmmm. Never mind that we have to pay a fee, RM0.50 for toilet usage and RM2.00 for shower, it would be a pleasure to contribute for its maintenance. After all we pay similar amounts to use public toilets in the city like KL and PJ but the maintenance of these toilets are sometime much to be desired…… !!

So, into the Exclusive toilet we went. The entrance was lined with flower pots. There was a red floor mat along the path to the payment counter which was a glassed enclosure with two or three staff sitting inside. The signage was very clear, decorations appealing and atmosphere conducive for easinggggg…….. heh heh heh! We got receipts, without being asked, for our entrance payment, something not ordinarily practiced in most toilets in the cities even. There were two main doors, one for men and the other for ladies. We took our pick. On entering the main door of the men’s, I noticed clear division of areas for shower, toilets, urinals and wash basins. Surprise, surprise, the floors were clean and dry, I checked each open shower cubicle, and toilet cubicle and I could not find faults with them. They were clean and dry. The toilet cubicles were bigger than most public toilets I have seen. Each one of them consists of a toilet bowl, a side concrete table meant for storage of baggage or for changing of baby diapers or similar usage, and also washing facilities. A small drain covered by metal grids ran around the sides of the cubicle and designed such that any spillage of water goes directly into this drain. That was how they kept the cubicles dry…. It was a delightful experience. I did my small job and continued to marvel at the design of the facilities. I hope they continue to maintain the place as it is for a long time to come….

We took a cab from Kuala Terengganu to Kerteh, a journey that took us slightly more than two hours. One and a half hours into the journey I felt the urge for toilet again. I contemplated asking the cab driver to stop at a mosque along the way or to control myself until I reached Sita’s house. I decided to close my eyes and try to sleep hoping to forget that I needed a toilet. On reaching Sita’s house, I could not wait any more. I had to rush to the toilet…… hmmmmm. Then I remembered the saying of a fellow retiree, who is about the same age as I am, “At our age if you feel hungry …. eat only a little, thirsty …. drink only a little, sleepy …… sleep a little, and if you see a toilet anywhere you are ….. go in and do your job. You will never know when you will need it and usually you will need it fast. Heh heh, I should have asked the cab driver to stop somewhere for me to use a toilet……..

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