(no subject)
I spend some of my quarantine on the 8th floor garden by the pool ensconced in a deep leather and cane couch in the gazebo. Ferns and lilly ponds and artfully placed rocks abound but they can't keep out the street noise with its intruding traffic and horns and shouts or the surrounding view of Makati City skyscrapers in various stages of completion - what James Hamilton-Paterson describes as “the pocket Manhattan”.
When I tried to go for a swim the other night the garden warden stopped me just as my toe was dipping into the water. Apparently the pool rules which require “appropriate swimwear” also include a swimming cap. It felt like being back in Japan. (which was surprising because outside on the streets it feels incredibly laissez faire )I had that feeling of not knowing whether you don't understand the rules properly because you are a foreigner or whether because you are a foreigner the rules are more pedantically enforced. It must be how Ablow feels all the time, dealing with the annoying rules and expectations of a foreign country which may make perfect sense or at least be untroublesome to a native but which as a foreigner you can't quite assimilate into your world view. Of course there are officious people everywhere, people just doing what they have to do in order to keep their jobs, but with a lack of cultural references you always feel more susceptible to them.
My building is the pink one
