the corridor of uncertainty

As far as I’m aware, the phrase ‘corridor of uncertainty’ was coined by former England opening batsman Geoffrey Boycott to describe a situation that faces every batsman in cricket when deciding whether to hit or leave a ball that has been bowled at them. A ball bowled close to the legs must be played, or the batsman will almost certainly be out, while a ball whose trajectory is well away from the body should be left alone, because the risk is that the ball will graze the edge of the bat and be caught by a fielder positioned for precisely that circumstance. However, there is a narrow zone between the two where it’s easy to be indecisive: play or leave. A good bowler will try to provoke this indecisiveness with every ball he delivers.

Although this post has nothing further to do with the arcane sport of cricket, Boycott’s phrase always springs to mind whenever I want to visit the toilet in Green Code Plaza, a shopping mall that was opened on the eastern edge of Fanling three years ago. Paula and I are regular visitors because we go to the big Chinese restaurant in the mall several times a week for yam char (Cantonese: ‘drink tea’).

There is nothing to suggest uncertainty when looking from the mall itself, although I’m curious as to why the two double doors are not the same size. This is the only example of asymmetric double doors that I can recall seeing anywhere in Hong Kong:

There are male/female toilet icons only on the right-hand doors, although there is a sign at ceiling height. The sign to the right of the left-hand doors points to the management office for the mall.

As you will see from the following sequence of photos, the corridor leading to the toilets is not straight:

The walls and floor are polished stone, which can be disorienting, especially with the mysterious markings on the floor, but there is a helpful arrow pointing the way to the toilets and the management office.

Why do we need a second sign, given that there is no alternative?

Ah! Now I understand. There is an alternative reality in which you might turn left and pass into another world:

The next turn needs no signage:

…but we are still getting signs pointing the way to the toilets:

Finally, the management office (not a hive of activity):

The door on the right leads to the car park:

Finally, the toilets! Women straight ahead; men around the corner to the right:

Now this is what I find baffling: why is this corridor not straight? I suspect that it has been designed this way for purely æsthetic reasons. However, assuming that you go through the right-hand of the two double doors seen in the first photo above, you will then have to turn left–right–right–left–left–right–left–right–right to reach the men’s toilet. I can see that causing utter chaos in an English pub.