Toilet talk, toilet etiquette

So you stand in line at the (women's) restroom i.e., comfort room, "CR" or banyo in the local lingo and someone cuts in front of you. What do you do? Before you call the attention of that person, understand that, normally, you stand in front of the cubicle you would like to use. There is no single line. You can figure it out when you walk into the banyo. Determine if there is a single line or not by observing. The safest way to go is by asking the person ahead of you if there is a queue. If there is chaos in the CR, then the queue is non-existent.


When you walk into the cubicle, don't be surprised if the seat has footprints on it. It is not unusual for women and children to squat over the potty.

Not all bathrooms have toilet paper i.e., tissue or tisyu; soap; paper towel; hand dryer; toilet seat cover; toilet seat; a working faucet, flushing mechanism or water tank altogether.

If there is no flushing mechanism, sometimes they provide a bucket of water to flush down your present in the potty.


If there is no faucet, we use a dipper or tabo to take water from a pail (timba) of water i.e., if a pail of water is provided. I always hesitate using the water in the pail for handwashing. I would you use it to flush the toilet instead. I pack a hand sanitizer, wet wipes and/or alcohol in my purse. Pack liquid soap, too.


Women hog the sink to touch up their make up, brush their teeth or wash their dishes (yes, they do). You have to be assertive and let them know that you need to use the sink. I think consideration and courtesy was washed down the drain a while back.

Changing stations are not common. Now that Bubutar is bigger, I use pull-up diapers (or nappies in local lingo) so that he does not have to lie on a changing mat. I have often changed him on his stroller or in the corner of a restaurant because there is no counter space to change him.


On a side note: I did not find swim diapers for babies and toddlers in the local stores. I had to purchase them back home and shipped boxes of it here. The common practice is not to wear a diaper or to wear regular diapers and then wear a plastic diaper cover over it. It is not water proof and if you have tried soaking the diaper in water, it balloons in size. Regular diapers become heavy and uncomfortable. Huggies and Pampers both have swim diapers.

Update: I found swim diapers in Rustan's, but they are pricey. Ita about $15 for a pack of 5 diapers. If I remember correctly, one can purchase a pack of 12 swim diapers for about $10 at Target or Walmart. The diapers are discounted during summer months.

The toilet cubicles are tiny. You often would have to step over the toilet or scoot to one side of the potty to close the door. Attention, architects and interior designers, please take some initiative to change the layout of our bathrooms. Allot more space. Think of the parents or grandparents with babies on strollers and handicapped persons.

On another side note: You will notice signs in the CR requesting you not throw your tissue paper, etc. in the potty. My theory is that management does this because of the aging infrastructure, the system cannot cope with the increase in toilet use. This is an entirely different topic.

For the men, if there are no bathrooms or public urinals nearby, the outdoors is their bathroom. It is still common to see men relieving themselves against a pole, tree, wall or out in the open grassy field. Now, I understand why mom said never to sit on the grass or the sidewalk.


There are malls that have pay toilets. The fee is about 10 pesos per use and occassionally includes a pack of tissue. Alabang Town Center opened a family lounge in the recent past. It has an area for internet access and clean bathrooms with soap, lotion, etc. The down side is that if you are in the other end of the mall, you have to walk and walk and walk to get there. By the time we reach the family lounge, my toddler would have been screaming his head off because of his wet diaper. The lounge was placed in an out of the way place...unless you happen to be dining at Cyma, then its a stone's throw away.

Of course, if you stay in a hotel or stay in the more popular upscale malls, all I mentioned can be flushed away.