This year's Dec is gonna be a quiet Dec in office as most of my colleagues would be travelling.
We were talking about each other's travelling plans & ended up having a hilarious & 'enlightening' lunch time talk about our travel habits, particularly in the hotel room. Here are some of the interesting 'rituals' that I find amusing, unique & even intriguing:
1. Courtesy call - before entering the hotel room, knock on the door first & mumble things like 'I'll be staying in the room for the next few days, so please excuse us.' This is to inform the 'occupant' of your stay so that it will not disturb you during your stay. Never mind if the 'occupant' did not answer to your knock, you have the room key.
2. Be my guest - if you have an uneasy feeling upon entering a hotel room or if the room has a musty smell, it could mean that you've got company. Well, at least it can keep you company through the long lonely night if you're travelling alone.
3. Oh my god! - I was pleasantly surprised to find a Bible and a Quran in the sidetable's drawer at one of the hotels I was staying in Thailand. I was shocked to realise that this means that the room could be haunted! & by multi-racial nationals too...
4. Shoo Shoes - some say to place your shoes neatly to indicate to the 'occupant' that you're only staying for a short; others say to place it in a disorderly manner to prevent the 'occupant' or any other 'Its' from slipping on to your shoes easily since it's inviting to see pretty shoes placed nicely, just like you can't wait to try the shoes on at the shopping malls.
5. Peek-a-Boo - some of my colleagues, including my hubby, have the habit of searching cupboards, curtains, underneath the bed & toilets each time they return to the hotel rooms. Just to make sure noone is hiding there. Some of my colleagues who prefer not to be stabbed to death chose not to do the search while those who prefer not to be raped & then stabbed to death, stick to the screening routine.
5. To unpack or not to unpack - this is the most contentious habit of all. Half the group will unpack their luggage where they'll hang their clothes in the cupboard & lay out their toiletries nicely in the bathroom. The other half (including myself), would prefer to leave our stuff in the luggage cos it's cumbersome to repack if you're changing hotels eveyday or in case of emergencies, we could just carry the luggage & run with our stuff intact.
I found it very interesting to watch my hubby (then bf) unpacking his toiletries & laying them out nicely upon checking in to our resort. It was just a 2D1N trip in Bintan. But later, it became something which I grumbled about, because to me, it's time wasting. Eventually, I've developed a habit to resolve this - watch cable TV whilst he does his unpacking and boils the water.
Speaking of boiling water, came the next interesting highlight.
6. The kettle or the steriliser? - some of my colleagues brought along with them mini kettles for boiling water because they found some of the kettles in the hotels with rusty heating coils. Some would pour away the 1st round of boiled water before boiling the water again for consumption while others hold the view that heat is sufficient to kill all the germs & bacteria... unless the kettles were used for some other functions such as sterilising socks, briefs, undies etc.
7. Home away from home - some of my colleagues' mums/ in-laws actually brought along their pillowcases & gasps, bedsheets & even bolsters! Come to think of it, I remember watching a documentary about how dirty hotels/ cruiseships can be especially when you shine an ultraviolet light on the carpets, bedsheets, chairs...you'll see stains of all sorts ie. semen, spits, vomit or even urine...in addition to the bedbugs...i wonder if ignorance can be a bliss. here..
And these people will definitely bring along their personal towels instead of using the hotels' as they were not sure if the towels were being sterilised properly...well, if you're like me who use the hotels' towels, you may not wana contine reading on......cos some of these people actually use the towels as floormats in the bathroom...yes, the very ones you wipe yourself clean with after a shower, the ones you wipe your face with......
Of course there are other pretty standard habits like taking with you the hotels' toiletries & bathroom shoes, covering the mirror if it's facing your bed, leaving the toilet light on (though not too eco-friendly), blocking the door with the chair or table whilst you sleep for security reasons, not using the bath tub as it was cited as one of the dirtiest place in the bathroom besides the toilet bowl (unless you have a travel companion like my colleague who will actually clean the toilet & disinfect it before using) & placing your money in different places.
Oh, one last personal advice which I'm speaking from my personal experience. If you can help it, try not to stay at hotels near places of worship as they usually attract a lot of 'unwelcomed guests'.
The list isn't exhaustive of course & feel free to add in comments if you have any :)
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