Mandi-Style Bathing
Sometimes, you will have to make do with mandi-style bathing. Mandi is Malay for bathe.
To the Western market, this may appear to be a fun and novel traditional way of bathing, but personally I don't think it's effective, because it takes up a lot more water. With long hair, you need like twenty scoops to rinse off your shampoo, followed by another twenty to rinse off the conditioner. By which time there's no more water left! It also requires a lot more coordination when washing other parts of your body.
But when you're in a situation where you have to shower, and you have no water flowing through the shower, you have no choice but to accept that mandi style will be the way to go.
- One way to make it more productive is to get your partner to pour the water over you. You will find it easier to rinse off the shampoo / soap. Then switch places. If you and your buddy are just friends and don't bathe together, then too bad lor.
- For "harder to reach areas" (you know what I mean lah), easier to DIY. Here's how: Hold the scoop with one hand, splash upwards with a strong firm movement to achieve a semi-jet-like effect, and with the other hand, wash off the soap. Repeat until all the soap is gone.
- While bathing, just turn on the tap fully and keep the water flowing into the basin. I find that one basin isn't enough for two people and there's nothing worse than standing there all wet with soap half on and half off looking at an empty basin. Also, it's only polite to the next person to top up whatever water you've used up.
- Even when not bathing, eg when brushing your teeth or doing your business, just turn on the tap and fill up the basin. We used the scoop to flush the toilet, to wash our hands, to rinse the floor, to rinse the camera equipment, everything. So just keep the basin filled at all times.
- Lastly, use bar soap rather than shower gel. Simple reason is because it comes off faster with fewer scoops of water. When there's no hot water and no smooth running water through the showerhead, trust me, anything that shortens your bathing time is a good thing.
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