djnasgor

[djnasgor]

Bus rides are romantic, don’t you think?

There’s something a little bit magical about riding in a double decker bus late at night when it’s pouring out. When you tap your transport card and scan your eyes among the interior of the bus to find yourself an empty seat, you swiftly glimpse upon the unfamiliar faces of the other riders. 

Sometimes you’ll see the lone elder man/woman, sometimes the business man. Occasionally there’s a couple - whether young or old. A lot of times it was silent, sometimes you hear faint conversations. 

They’re all just regular people, minding their own business. Some of their faces buried into their mobile phones, some just stare ahead with empty pair of eyes - minds elsewhere. 

There were times when I found myself wondering about their day. Are they going back home after working late? Are they off to meet their loved ones? What are they feeling? Perhaps they just closed the biggest deal of their lives after a great day at work. Or did they just meet the love of their life? 

Whatever it may be, we all encompass a secret collective understanding that this bus will take us to wherever we needed to go for that moment as the dim city night lights pass outside our windows.

It’s all so romantic, don’t you think?

[djnasgor]

Toilet Etiquette

My insatiable appetite for abnormally spicy food has earned me frequent, multiple trips to the toilet. Since I have returned back to Indonesia where there are ample amount sambal, chili paste and raw chilies within an arm's reach (compared to Hong Kong - who charges chopped chili padis as extra condiments), I can say that my bowel movements have been pretty regular. Let's leave it at that as I don't want this to be a tad TMI.

Where am I going with this? I'll give you a little insight that when I have to do number two outside of the comfort of my home I have a strong preference for disabled toilets for the space and privacy reasons. Now that I’ve properly retired from the usual 9-5 gig in the office I can safely say that I’ve mostly been able to enjoy doing a poo in the comfort of my own home (or hotels when I’m in quarantine - damn you COVID-19). 

However today I have decided that I required a little boost for my headspace and went to a coworking space in town. My spine needed a little bit of a change - it’s getting sick of being horizontal on my bed or sofa. Due to my irresponsible consumption of capsaicin my stomach has been uneasy throughout the day. A storm is brewing inside. 

As soon as I secured one of the vacant, socially-distanced hot-desking seat and placed my laptop bag, I immediately make my way into the toilet. Out comes the riveting fart along with its liquid counterparts. TMI? I’m sorry, I’ll stop there. Usually my butthole will be shy as it hasn’t been conditioned to pooping in a semi-private toilet cubicle. This time I really had to go.

The restroom was empty when I came in but not long after I heard another another person walked in the lavatory door. To my surprise the other person lets out nasty blabbering sounds from their behind as well. There is no way on earth she didn’t smell the stench in the air from my watery stool, so I’m sure she’s aware that someone else was in the bathroom doing exactly what she’s doing. 

Both of us sat there taking turns of farting, squelching diarrhoea and sharts. That’s when it came to my realization of the unspeakable toilet etiquette. We’re in it together, and both of us respect each other enough to grant anonymity. Among the awkward silences between our toilets flushing, it’s as if either one of us quietly decided who will exit the bathroom stall first before the other. It’s a mutually-agreed code of conduct so that neither of us will have to pass awkward half-smiles and glances when we went out to wash our hands. 

Humankind have evolved so far. Amazing what we can achieve when two great minds with loose bowels think alike.