Some Unique Things About Our Phnom Penh Apartment

Last week we had no visitors or holidays, so this week is making up for that completely.  We have already posted about our visitors, Chad, Christian and Easton, so today is the holiday, it is the King's Mother's Birthday.

Since we are at home today we thought that we would share some differences about our apartment compared to what is seen in the U.S.

One of the first things that we learned about was the differences in the bathroom.  In the corner of the shower is a floor drain, that was a little bigger than in the U.S. but we did not understand the other difference.  On about our tenth day here in our apartment the shower was not draining and we did not know why.  Upon examining the drain we discovered the cover turns and comes off.  There is a trap down inside that was completely clogged with hair. After cleaning it out the water drained like normal.  We figured it just must not have gotten cleaned out for a while, but we soon discovered that every seven to ten days we have to clean it out.  It is now on our weekly list of things to do.

As you can also see in the shower pictures the shower head is different than we are use to seeing in the U.S. and is attached to a hose to detach from the wall.  The shower head works fine, just not the same direct spray as we are use to.

Another unique item in the bathroom is the hose with a sprayer next to the toilet.  We will not go into all of the details how it could be used, but it does help keeping the toilet clean.  In talking about the toilet, another interesting difference is the toilet seat. You do not need to worry about it crashing shut, it is a slow closing lid.

We do have our own laundry facilities here in our apartment, just a little different than our ones at home.  The washer is a top load without an agitator, but it does have a great spin dry.  In fact if you want you can use the spin dey cycle to get the clothes dryer, because there is no dryer.  Our dryer is the drying racks in the spare bedroom with a fan to help them dry faster. Our washer here does, however, play the same "tune" as the one back home, letting us know the wash is done.

This evening Chad put on a devotional about self-reliance at the Phnom Penh North Stake Center.  There were about forty members there and a lot wanted to talk to him after the devotional.  He taught them about attitude and being pro-active.  It was a great opportunity for those that were there to learn important principles.