Yesterday we had no running water at all in our home. It appears that a large portion of Kuantan went without water. We couldn't shower, we couldn't really cook food without water, we couldn't do any washing, we couldn't use the toilet without needing a whole bucket of water to flush it all down.
We are very fortunate that we have some good friends here in Kuantan who allowed us, even welcomed and thanked us for coming to their house to shower and fill up some buckets of water to take home. Around lunchtime we went to our friend Santha's home where we showered and were treated to lychee drinks.
Last night we went to Serene's home where we showered once more and filled up four buckets of water for use at home. Both of our friends are parents of my former and current English students.
I realised just how much we rely on turning the tap and having running water ready to serve us. Without this luxury, even just for one day, we descend into a state of panic and turmoil, unable to live our day as normal.
Well, there are people around the world who don't have access to water like we do, and they have to live with it permanently. Certainly people in Japan have been living for quite some time now without water, and I wonder how they do it.
Thankfully our water is back today, apart from our hot water for the shower, so we're settling for a cold one for the time being. This water shortage has at least motivated me to have a considerably larger supply of water in storage. What if the whole of Kuantan had no water? If we couldn't just go to a friend's house to shower?
I want to be prepared
