Welcome to Malaysia Toilet Paper

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We woke up at 5am to head to the ferry for Pulau Kecil, we wanted to be on the first one to optimize our chances of finding a decent room.

The taxi picked us up in a beat up old Mercedes and as we headed out of town, he made a quick pitstop at the gas station to fill up (this is the second time on this trip that a taxi has stopped for gas after they've picked me up. Can you imagine this happening in San Francisco?) and I realized that I still needed to buy a roll of toilet paper...the just in case kind. I walked up to the window, and asked the shop guy if I could buy some toilet paper. He didn't understand, so the taxi driver offered a translation to him. The shop guy disappeared for a moment and then returned with a box of kleenex. Hmmm, I thought. How do I explain the difference between toilet paper and tissue paper using pantomime?

(any suggestions?)

I decided that it was best to go down the path of negating that I wanted tissue paper, so I waved my head no and held up the kleenex. Then I said a few things like: for bathroom. for peepee. for toilet. And finally, he got it. Meanwhile, Sarah and Jennie were in the car laughing at the debacle.

He disappears again and returns, with one roll of toilet paper. "Welcome to Malaysia" he said.

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