Ang Tabo - The Washing Bowl
Filipinos reading this would know what I’m talking about in a heartbeat. For other nationalities, this may just be the answer to lingering questions after you’ve visited with a Filipino family and used their bath or powder room.
Typically, the tabo looks like this:
But it can very well be any kind of bowl if such a specialized container cannot be found. They usually rest on top, next to or conspicuously hiding behind the toilet seat.
So you ask, what do Filipinos do with it?
Why, we clean our bums with it! Yep. We ARE a clean nation. We just don’t take a dump, we clean up after ourselves too! (Oh boy, if the same can be said about Philippine politics) And clean up good we do. While most westerners were still busy scraping newspaper and wrappers to wipe their a*s (ouch! ouch!), Filipinos have had the brilliant idea to actually wash with soap and water.
Voila, no smelly paper waste and with the added bonus of actually feeling fresh and refreshed. Believe me, it’s even better than using one of those Cottonelle wet ones. It’s like having your own personal bidet.
For the uninitiated, washing with the “tabo” requires a certain skill. First, fill the tabo with water (warm, cold, lukewarm, it’s your preference), pour it on your behind for a first wash off. Then with your other hand, reach for the soap and soap your hand while filling up your tabo for the second time. Next, soap your bun bun and wash using your water-filled tabo, making sure you get every nook and cranny under there.
Now, your behind is clean enough to be wiped with a towel.
I came across the tabo project in Multiply (social networking) and I thought it’s a brilliant concept. Can anyone let me know a way to contact the person who started this?
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