All appliances are not the same

I think we get so used to how things "ought to be," that when confronted with the way things "are" in a different country, it's a bit discombobulating. I'm being hit with many of these all at once as I navigate what ought to be simple household appliances.

Who invented the combination washer/dryer? Shoot them for me, please. Or at least hurt them enough so that they'll never do that again. I thought it might be nice to give it a trial run this morning, and I even had out my newly-acquired Fairy® laundry detergent. It said to use 150 ml of the stuff. The only measuring cup in the place is one I'm going to use for baking, so I guesstimated 150 ml (3 capfulls; pray with me, will you?).

First you decide on a cycle:

 

Next actually select it. Go ahead. I dare you.

 

Don't forget to include the drying time. No automatic dry-til-it's-dry-dammit setting.

I chose "H," the Quick Wash, since it seemed the simplest option. It seemed to wash the clothes just fine, but at the end of the drying cycle, the clothes were soaked. I put them through 4 more drying cycles, 4 spinning-only cycles, tried taking out half of the clothes and drying them half a load at a time. I finally gave up getting them completely dry and hung them up to air dry.

I did manage to download the manual for the oven (it has two knobs on it, but only icons which only make sense after you read the manual). I heated up a lovely chicken kiev that I bought at one of the markets, and some yummy tomato basil soup on the stove, poured a glass of cabernet, and called it lunch.

Did I mention you have to periodically turn off the hot water heater so that the building doesn't catch on fire?